(AC: The Intrepid – FMA:B OST 3)
Roy Mustang stood in the middle of the temple courtyard, his gloved right hand stretched forward, ready to snap his fingers in an instant's notice while, knelt behind him on a sloped pile of debris was Captain Riza Hawkeye, a sniper rifle in hand and pointed towards the Garands. Victor immediately recognized Mustang's uniform but not Mustang himself.
"Dr. Victor Garand, the Immortal Alchemist, I presume!" Roy said from across the courtyard.
"That's correct, General! Rather foolish of you to come with only one escort!" Garand said as Roy scowled at him.
"Be quiet you miserable insect! I have only one question for you and I want an honest answer! The mother and child in front of you! Did you target them specifically or were they kidnapped at random?!" Roy asked, anger clear in his voice, as Garand arched a confused eyebrow, unsure of Roy's questioning.
"What should it matter to you, General? With the exception of a couple of your State Alchemists, the widow of Fuhrer King Bradley, and a Princess from the Xing Empire, all of our abductions have been at random." Garand replied as Roy narrowed his gaze.
"It matters because it determines how quick a death I'll grant you! It takes a truly depraved man to use a widow and her daughter as a hostage, and an even more depraved alchemist to want to use them as part of a Philosopher's Stone!" Roy spat angrily, the fact that Roy expressed his awareness of the Philosopher's Stone's creation surprised Garand and Morser.
"How do you know about the stone?!" Garand asked.
"Perhaps I should introduce myself! I'm the one who's been hounding your every step ever since your first bombings in Central! I'm the one who shut down your bomb factory! I'm Brigadier General Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist, head of Domestic Security Oversight, and I'll be taking back those hostages!" Roy demanded as Morser's eyes widened.
"Victor! It is Mustang! I recognize him from when he found our bomb maker at Central Hospital!" Morser said in realization as Garand scowled. Roy, immediately sensed trouble.
"Captain, wait for an opening and then move in to assist the Hughes. Under no circumstances are you to engage those twins." Roy ordered softly as Hawkeye narrowed her gaze through the scope of her rifle, subtly taking her finger away from the trigger.
"Yes sir." Hawkeye replied.
"Fine, if you want the hostages, Mustang, you'll have to come and get them yourself! Girls, kill him!" Garand ordered as the twins grinned sadistically and charged towards him. Roy immediately raised both hands, ready to snap his fingers. (AC: Battle Scherzo – FMA:B OST 2)
"Fatal MISTAKE!" Roy grunted as he snapped both fingers, causing the air around the twins to suddenly explode in a ball of flames, the twins screaming in agony, alarming Morser and Garand to recoil in shock. When the flames died down, the twins were still standing, their burned skin rolling off in sheets as they regenerated.
"Bastard!" "You'll pay for th-AHHHHHH!" the twins screamed as Roy snapped his fingers again, snapping them repeatedly causing repeated explosions around the twins.
"My babies! What is he doing to them?!" Morser screamed in horror as Roy stopped snapping.
"You're both idiots! I was one of the Human Sacrifices used by the Homunculi on the Promised Day! I know what it takes to kill a Homunculi, not to mention two! I killed two of them personally! Now it looks like I'll be adding two more to the pyre!" Roy yelled with a snarl before continuing his repeated immolations of the twins who were too riddled with pain to do more than writhe on the ground while screaming.
"Stop him! Stop him before we lose them again!" Morser screamed, tears running from her eyes but Garand was too frozen in horror to react. Roy then stopped again.
"You made a mistake when you abducted Gracia and Elicia Hughes! I swore on the grave of Maes Hughes, that I would look after and protect his wife and daughter! I vowed to protect them from scum like you! So once I finish with these two, you'll be the next in line!" Roy hissed before resuming his cremation of the twins. Morser was watching in absolute horror when she felt a firm hand grab her by the arm. She turned and saw Garand pulling her up the stairs.
"Come on, Elizabeth! We can't stay here!" Garand exclaimed.
"But we can't leave them to die!" Morser argued but Garand was forcing himself to look away from the scene.
"It's too late for them! But their deaths won't be permanent! Come on! We can get revenge just as soon as we've created the Immortal Alchemist!" Garand argued, dragging Morser up the stairs, the two dragging the body bags into the temple just as Roy unleashed one final explosion, the largest one he'd unleashed on the twins yet, the twins still screaming in pain. (End AC) As the flames died down, Roy remained poised and ready to keep going as he watched the two twins, their bodies blackened and charred, their gazes fixed towards the temple doors with looks of sad shock. (AC: Sorrowful Stone – FMA:B OST 3)
"Mother." "Father." They said weakly as they saw Garand reappear at the doorway, drawing something on the ground before transmuting a large door made of transmuted a strange black solid substance over the temple entrance.
"Why did they leave us?" "Aren't we what they wanted?" "Their lost children, back from the dead?" the twins asked as their arms and legs started to dissolve away, the Philosopher's Stones that kept them alive, expended beyond the point of regeneration.
"Sister?" "Is this what death is like?" "I think it is." "Oh." "It feels familiar." "It reminds me of the day we were born." "The same day we died." "Will we be together still in death?" "I hope so." "Good. I don't want to be alone." "I don't think we ever were." "In life or in death." The twins said to each other as they gradually dissolved into nothingness, leaving behind two abnormally small skeletons, the skeletons of their infant forms from which they were made. The skeletons were soon all that remained of Rachel and Michelle Garand, born and died in the year 1900. (End AC) Roy quietly glared at the skeletons for a moment, quietly contemplating their sad lives before looking towards the temple.
"General!" Hawkeye called, snapping Roy from his contemplation. He turned to see Hawkeye standing near the hole that Gracia and Elicia had been found in earlier. Hawkeye was signaling him over. Roy quickly looked around and saw no sign of Gracia or Elicia.
"Report, Captain! Did you rescue the Hughes?!" Roy asked as he approached her.
"Didn't have the chance sir! Someone else got to them first!" Hawkeye reported, alarming Roy.
"What?! Who was it? Where are they?" He asked, visibly worried for their safety.
"We're down here!" he heard Gracia call from the hole. (AC: Overture ~Brotherhood~ - FMA:B OST 1) Roy quickly approached the edge and looked down. What he saw made him freeze in surprise. Down in the hole, putting a crude splint around Gracia's leg as she sat on some debris was Selim Bradley/Pride while Elicia stood nearby.
"The Homunculus saved them sir. He spirited them away while everyone was distracted with those twins." Hawkeye reported as Pride looked up at Roy with a smile.
"Is my mother okay, General Mustang?" Pride asked as Roy smiled down at him.
"She's fine, Selim. What about you Mrs. Hughes? I'm sorry it took me so long." Roy said as he descended the stairs.
"A little banged up but I'll be okay. Elicia are you okay dear?" Gracia asked as Elicia smiled.
"Uh huh. I was really scared but I'm okay now." Elicia said as Hawkeye removed the ammunition from her sniper rifle and gave it to Gracia to use as a crutch.
"Good. I don't want you getting scared now, okay Elicia?" Roy asked as he knelt down to her level. Elicia giggled and made her best attempt at a salute.
"Yes sir, Mr. Mustang." Elicia said as Roy smiled.
"Good." He said before hearing the booted footsteps of approaching soldiers. He also noticed that Pride had disappeared. Ignoring the AWOL Homunculus for the moment, Roy snapped his fingers into the air, sending up a flare.
"Over there!" "Is that a flare?!" "It must be the General!" "General Mustang!" the soldiers called as they approached the edge of the hole.
"You men get Mrs. Hughes and her daughter to the aid station! And if so much as one of you tries to even so much as hit on her, I'll burn your eyebrows off! Got that?!" Roy asked as the men saluted fearfully.
"Sir yes sir!" They replied. Soon Roy and Hawkeye were watching the soldiers escorting Gracia and Elicia out of the city. As they watched, Hawkeye gave Roy a suspicious look.
"General, permission to be candid sir?" Hawkeye asked.
"Granted, Captain."
"You're not considering on pursuing Mrs. Hughes as a romantic interest are you?" Hawkeye, expecting Roy to react in an alarmed fashion and clumsily deny it but instead he smiled with a soft chuckle.
"Actually, Captain, the thought has never crossed my mind. If there's one woman in all the world that's off limits to me, it's Gracia Hughes. I promised Maes that I'd look after her and Elicia and I will. I could never bring myself to be anything more than just a friend. Besides, if I did, Maes would probably dig himself out of his grave and throw me in it instead." Roy said as Hawkeye hid a smile. (End AC)
"Just wanted to be sure, sir." Hawkeye said as she cocked her carbine.
"Good, now that that's settled, let's see about dealing with-…oh hell." Roy grumbled as he and Hawkeye turned to see several mannequin soldiers lumbering towards them.
"Looks like Garand will have to wait a little longer, sir!" Hawkeye said as she fired at the approaching mannequins, aiming for their jaws as Roy's eye twitched.
"Well…this moment's ruined." He grumbled before beginning to incinerate the immortal soldiers.
…
(AC: Clash of the Alchemists – FMA:B OST 1)
Elsewhere in the southern part of the city, several soldiers were fleeing for their lives from a group of several of the mannequin soldiers.
"Fall back! Retreat! Retreat!" one of the soldiers yelled as they ran. They looked ahead and saw a woman with micro-braided hair leaning against one of the buildings while putting on a pair of sandals. She noticed them with a stern gaze.
"Lady! Run for it, there're monsters behind us!" one of the soldiers yelled. The woman immediately scowled at the mannequins and started running towards the soldiers.
"Ugh! These things are starting to piss me off!" Izumi growled as she clapped her hands together and slammed them into the ground behind the soldiers, causing the ground to transmute into a sharpened wedge that curled up and backwards towards the approaching mannequins, the wedge slicing the mannequin's heads clean off, the heads rolling down the sloped end. The soldiers were awestruck by her power when one of them noticed more mannequins lumbering towards them from a nearby street.
"More of them!" the soldier yelled but Izumi merely smirked.
"Honey! Got some over here!" Izumi called.
"Right!" Sig replied as Izumi quickly transmuted a large cleaver from the ground, tossing it up in time for Sig to run past, grabbing the cleaver, rearing it back and delivering a vicious swing at the monsters, blowing them all away in a single swing, stunning the Amestrian soldiers with his strength. (End AC) Izumi stood with her hands rested on her hips, admiring her husband's handiwork.
"Whoa!" "They must be some kind of elite force from Briggs!" "No way, I spent a week in Briggs and I never saw them." "Hey, who are you? A State Alchemist?" the soldiers asked but Izumi merely smiled in amusement.
"Who me? I appreciate the compliment but I'm just a simple housewife." Izumi replied as Sig walked up to stand next to her, the cleaver rested on his shoulder.
"How was that one honey?" she asked Sig who ran his thumb near the edge of the cleaver before giving a thumbs up and smiling. They then heard the familiar crackling and hissing of a transmutation nearby. They turned to see a stairwell form in the middle of the street, Izumi, Sig, and the soldiers quickly preparing for whatever trouble may emerge. Izumi decided to not take any chances and clapped her hands together, slamming them into the ground and causing the stairwell to suddenly explode, catapulting two familiar figures into the air and land on the ground.
"Ngh! Not again!" Edward groaned, unaware that he was pinning Alphonse underneath him again.
"That's my line, brother." Alphonse wheezed as Ed sat up but immediately froze, his armor rattling when he saw Izumi.
"Teacher!" Ed yelped as a scowl flashed across Izumi's face. She suddenly vaulted forward towards them, flying past Ed while grabbing him by the arm and effortlessly flipping him off of Al and on onto his chest. She then kicked Alphonse straight up into the air, grabbed him by the collar in midair, and threw him down hard on top of Ed, startling the soldiers.
"Wasn't that Fullmetal?" "Why'd she attack him?" "Isn't she on our side?" the soldiers asked, confused and dumbfounded.
"You idiots didn't check your surroundings when you transmuted that hole! Someone could've fallen in and gotten hurt! How many times did I tell you to always check your surroundings first?!" Izumi yelled at the two brothers, both dazed from the sudden attack.
"Sorry teacher." They both responded. About a minute later the brothers were both on their feet and everyone was standing around and looking at the stairwell.
"Where did this tunnel come from?" Izumi asked.
"The tunnel was dug out by the Red Kingdom using alchemy. It runs all over the city. It's where their labs are hidden." Ed explained.
"What were you doing down there?" Izumi asked.
"We sort-of fell into it after running into one of the Red Kingdom's Alchemists." Alphonse replied.
"And it's a good thing we did too because we found evidence to implicate that Dr. Garand has everything he needs to create another Homunculus." Ed added, disturbing Izumi and Sig as well as some of the soldiers.
"I see. So he has a stone then?" Izumi asked as Ed and Al both nodded.
"Yeah. The one Ling used to become Emperor of Xing. May had it with orders to destroy it but Garand got it first and as far as we know he still has it." Ed explained.
"Then I can assume he would need to perform a human transmutation to create the Homunculus." Izumi said as the brothers nodded again.
"Yeah. We know there's a Human Transmutation Circle inside the temple. We were headed there when we decided to stop and get our bearings." Ed said as Izumi, Sig, and the soldiers all looked at them confused.
"But the temple's that direction." Izumi said, pointing towards the temple. Ed and Al both turned and their jaws fell open in dismay.
"No way!" "How did we get even further away?!" the brothers asked.
"Edward, Alphonse, the fact that there are tunnels down there makes me nervous. It's something that we've seen before." Izumi said as the brothers looked at each other, knowing what she meant.
"Yeah we've been looking for a map of the tunnels but by the looks of it the tunnels aren't laid out in any particular arrangement." Ed replied.
"And we've been rearranging the tunnels as we went just to be sure they aren't arranged into a giant transmutation circle." Al said as Izumi looked thoughtful.
"The city isn't circular in shape either but there is always the possibility of there being a circle hidden within the pattern." Izumi postulated.
"With all the artillery that General Armstrong's been lobbing at the city, any circles would have to have been damaged." Ed said as Sig spotted something at the temple.
"Izumi, look." Sig said as they all looked towards the temple, seeing large black walls of some kind rising from the ground, sealing up all of the entrances into the temple.
"What is that?!" Ed asked.
"Looks like Garand's sealing up the temple to prevent intruders!" Izumi hissed.
"That must mean he's about to perform the transmutation!" Al said as Ed turned towards the tunnel.
"Come on, Al! Maybe there's a way inside from the tunnels!" Ed said as he and Al hurried for the stairwell.
"We'll go try and break in the old fashioned way!" Izumi said as she, Sig, and the soldiers started running towards the temple.
…
(AC: Envy Revealed – FMA:B OST 2)
Back in the north part of the city, Lieutenant Colonel Armstrong and Horatio Sherman were still battling it out, the two alchemists still fighting in a brutal battle of pure muscle strength and alchemical talent. The makeshift arena was littered with debris and more than one stone bust of Armstrong's head. Sherman's right arm was bleeding from an earlier attack while Armstrong's right eye had blood running down over it from a cut on his forehead but neither man was backing down and both were standing in fighting stances, breathing heavily from their constant fighting.
"I must admit Armstrong, you've got endurance." Sherman panted.
"And you as well, Sherman. But I'm not about to back down." Armstrong said as Sherman grunted in annoyance.
"Why are you fighting us, Armstrong? You of all alchemists should be working with us, especially after what we went through in the Ishval war." Sherman said as Armstrong narrowed his gaze.
"I will not participate in genocide, not again! NEVER AGAIN!" Armstrong yelled, delivering a powerful stomp to the ground, sending up several large chunks of rock which he quickly punched towards Sherman, the rocks forming into solid arrows on impact but Sherman again shifted himself to the side.
"The Ishvalans were a victim of the Amestris State Military's and their Homunculus leaders! You know what the whole war was really about! Amestris is tainted! It needs to be purged!" Sherman argued, shifting his leg forward and sending a spike of rock towards Armstrong but he stopped the blow with both hands, grabbing the spike and keeping it inches from his bare chest while the spike carried him backwards a fair distance.
"Even if it means slaughtering countless innocent civilians?! Even the Ishvalans?!" Armstrong asked as Sherman slammed a booted foot down, causing the ground beneath Armstrong to buckle, trapping his legs.
"Ishval itself is tainted by Amestrian influence! It will need to be purged as well!" Sherman yelled as Armstrong reared back his fists to punch the ground around his feet but suddenly found a pair of strange metallic tendrils burst up from the ground and trap his arms.
"What is this?!" Armstrong asked as he tried to break free but the tendrils held firm.
"I transmuted the ground behind you into a special mixture of metal used in the north to trap your arms! It's time to put an end to this, Armstrong!" Sherman said as Armstrong narrowed his gaze towards the tendrils.
"The north, eh?" he asked, grabbing one of the tendrils which suddenly shattered, alarming Armstrong.
"What?! How did you-…" Sherman gasped.
"I recognized the metal! It's a mixture of aluminum and carbon fiber, an alloy used almost exclusively by the soldiers of Briggs! You forget that my sister, Major General Olivier Mira Armstrong is known as the Northern Wall of Briggs! I know all about their special alloys!" Armstrong yelled as he broke free from the tendrils and punched the ground, freeing his legs. Sherman snarled in frustration as he stomped both of his feet, causing a flurry of tendrils to burst up and entrap Armstrong by the arms, wrists, legs, and ankles.
"Enough of this! Goodbye, Armstrong!" Sherman yelled as he reared back his leg to kick at the ground but suddenly was grabbed by the ankle and flipped forward, collapsing onto his face. (End AC)
"What the-?!" Sherman grunted, attempting to climb to his feet when he felt a strong hand on the back of his head shove him back down. He looked out of the corner of his eye and froze as he saw a pair of angry red Ishvalan eyes glaring at him with a large x shaped scar.
"Horatio Sherman, the Quake Alchemist." Scar said in a low tone as Sherman shook in fear.
"You?!" he gasped.
"You intend to destroy my people and my friends. You claim Amestris and Ishval worthy of destruction for siding with the Homunculi when you are doing the exact same thing. I've grown to believe Alchemy can be a gift from God if used to the benefit of mankind, but if used in the pursuit of personal power, it becomes a tool of evil. For this and your intent to murder the innocent, you shall be punished." Scar said before his arm crackled with energy, Armstrong looking away as Sherman let out a terrible wail of pain. When Armstrong looked back, Scar was standing over Sherman's corpse, blood from the late Quake Alchemist pooling around his feet. Scar then looked towards Armstrong with his usual unreadable stern stare before calmly walking over and shattering the tendrils with his destruction alchemy, freeing the Lieutenant Colonel.
"I owe you my thanks, Ishvalan." Armstrong said but Scar didn't look him in the eye.
"You owe me nothing, alchemist." Scar replied before hearing something in the distance and looking away behind them.
"Hmm?" Armstrong asked as he followed Scar's gaze to see the fight between Ling, May, and Lan Fan against Xiao and Fang still going strong on the rooftops of the nearby buildings.
"Should we help them?" Armstrong asked before they heard a faint rumbling sound coming from the temple. They both turned and saw the black walls moving into place over the passageways into the temple.
"Something's happening." Scar said as he walked towards the wall that blocked their path to the temple, placed a hand on it, and used his destruction alchemy to destroy it.
"Come, there isn't any time to lose!" Armstrong said as they started running towards the temple.
…
(AC: Xing Symphony ~Overture~ - FMA:B OST 2)
The battle between Ling and Xiao had been going on for at least two hours now and the sun was now clear of the dunes to the east. Brother and Sister had been fighting non-stop but both were showing signs of getting weary. Lan Fan and Fang were still fighting silently on an adjoining rooftop, May struggling to keep up on the ground, Xiao-Mei holding on to her shoulder for dear life. Ling was scowling now as he and Xiao continued to exchange or dodge blows, the two fighting with vicious skill.
"I don't quite get it." Ling said, confusing Xiao.
"Hmm?" Xiao asked as they dropped back to opposite sides of the rooftop they were on.
"You want to usurp the throne from me but I don't get why. What's your reasoning? You said I was ruining the country so how am I doing it exactly?" Ling asked as Xiao growled.
"You've allowed the weak to flourish and have forsaken thousands of years of tradition by meddling in the affairs of the other clans! You've allowed clans that have had no say for generations to have their voices heard when those clans should be silenced forever! Whenever you go to war, your weakest forces are always the first to die because that is their purpose! You weed them out and keep them apart from your stronger forces and throw the weaker into battle knowing that they will not survive while reserving your stronger force for obliterating the weakened and softened enemy!" Xiao yelled.
"The clans have been killing each other for generations. It was time to stop the bloodshed. An Emperor without subjects is an Emperor over nothing! I did what I had to for the good of our people! And I can guess that by 'weakest force' and the 'clans whose voices should be silenced' you mean the smaller clans like the Chang clan! Sorry, but I don't see anyone as weak! An individual clan cannot stand on its own but together, we are one kingdom, one empire! The Xing Empire! What would you propose we do with those smaller clans?!" Ling asked as Xiao scowled.
"I would do with it like I would a cancer! Cut it out and then destroy it!" Xiao replied before lunging forward, Ling lunging towards her as well, their blades connecting once more.
"I get the feeling that's just your feeling on a political level! I think this goes much deeper than that! Your problem isn't so much with my leadership but with me specifically!" Ling said as they continued to exchange or dodge each other's attacks.
"Very perceptive of you! You're right! I find you very unworthy of being Emperor! You reek of hypocrisy! You claim to be a benevolent ruler but if that were the case, then you would have shared the Elixir of Life, the secret of immortality, with all of Xing!" Xiao said, causing Ling to leap back, landing atop an old chimney.
"I see now. You want the Philosopher's Stone for yourself is that it?" Ling asked.
"I know about the power you once held, Ling! You were a Homunculus once! You held the power of immortality in the palm of your hand and you gave it up to save a country that wasn't even your own! You are weak for surrendering that power!" Xiao hissed.
"You have no idea what goes into making those stones, Xiao! Did Garand forget to mention that they were made from the souls of innocent people?! Could you accept a Philosopher's Stone knowing that innocent people died making them?!" Ling asked, growing increasingly disgusted with his sister's motives.
"I would sacrifice thousands of people if it meant receiving the gift of immortality! To become the strongest there is!" Xiao yelled as Ling's eyes widened slightly so his irises could be seen, his eyes narrowed towards her as his scowl deepened.
"So you made an arrangement with Garand to become a Homunculus in exchange for having me and May killed. What then? What would you do next, Xiao?" Ling asked as Xiao narrowed her gaze and glanced towards the sky.
"I would wait for twenty years, making preparations so that when the next solar eclipse occurred, when the shadow of the moon fell over Xing, the weak would be purged from our country at long last and the strong would gain immortality! Xing would advance to the next step of human evolution!" Xiao explained as Ling's jaw fell open in shock.
"A Nationwide Transmutation Circle! Xiao, what do you think that will do to the people of Xing?!" Ling asked.
"It will turn everyone in Xing into Homunculi! The strong will survive but the weak will perish! I will be forcing the evolution of humanity!" Xiao declared as Ling snarled.
"Are you insane?! That won't evolve mankind! It'll kill them all and convert their souls into one giant Philosopher's Stone! Believe me Xiao! It's exactly what happened here two years ago! Garand fed you a line and he's been dangling you along with it ever since!" Ling yelled as Xiao scoffed.
"Then I'll be the recipient of that Philosopher's Stone! The strength of our people will create the greatest ruler the world has ever known! A being capable of ruling the globe singlehandedly! Entire nations would bow to my will or be swept away with a mere wave of my hand!" Xiao yelled before Ling flew forward, his blade raised but Xiao blocked, taken aback by the ferocity of Ling's attack.
"You disgust me, Xiao! You'd sacrifice our people just so you could attain immortality! You remind me of the previous ruler of Amestris! He was the same way! Willing to sacrifice his own people in the name of personal glory and power! A leader's job is to care for and protect its people! And by the way, I didn't exactly give up Greed, the Homunculus, of my own volition! He hijacked my body and later abandoned it because he realized that he couldn't have everything he ever wanted! And all I want is to protect my people from the likes of you!" Ling yelled, forcing Xiao back with a second wind of furious and devastatingly powerful attacks. Forcing her back towards the edge and even knocking her ninjato from her hand and towards the streets below. Ling had her cornered and she knew it. However she wasn't the only one. (End AC)
"My lady!" Fang exclaimed from the opposite rooftop and quickly backed away from Lan Fan, throwing six knives from his sleeve, the knives landing in a circle around Ling, one knife pinning down his pant leg. Ling noticed this and tried to pull himself free but wasn't able to. Xiao quickly ducked down, pulling a stiletto blade from her pants leg, and stabbed Ling in the left calf. Ling let out a cry of pain as Xiao leapt to the side, pulling out a fan and popping it open, revealing a purification circle printed on it.
"My Lord!" Lan Fan exclaimed, throwing a stiletto towards Xiao, the stiletto piercing the fan, ripping a hole in the center of the purification circle. Unfortunately this left Lan Fan open and Fang immediately stabbed her in the back with his ninjato.
"LAN FAN!" Ling exclaimed as Lan Fan, fighting against the pain, reached back and quickly ran Fang through the throat, killing him instantly as she spun out of the way, allowing Fang's corpse to fall off the roof, Lan Fan falling onto her side on the roof. Xiao noticed the Emperor was distracted and pulled a second stiletto from her sleeve and charged towards him but Ling was well aware of his surroundings and shifted back just in time while rearing back his sword and then turning just in time to grab her hand, moving it clear and simultaneously running her through in the chest. A stunned look flashed across her face as his blade burst from her back, her stiletto falling from her hand. Ling held her up with a saddened expression on his face. (AC: Main Theme ~The Alchemistï~ - FMA:B OST 3)
"You brought this on yourself, Xiao. But don't worry. No harm will befall your clan. No one will know what happened here. Xiao Fujin will be remembered as a hero who died protecting the Emperor." Ling said softly as his sister quietly died in his arms. He quietly set her down before turning and hurrying across to the opposite rooftop where Lan Fan lay unconscious.
"Lan Fan! LAN FAN!" Ling yelled just as May made it onto the roof.
"Stand back! I can help!" May yelled as she quickly started drawing a purification circle on the roof, Ling carefully pulling the ninjato from her back. The blade had missed her heart but she was still bleeding.
"She's not going to make it! There has to be something you can do!" Ling yelled, clearly worried about Lan Fan's fate. May finished drawing the circle, Ling laying Lan Fan down inside of it as May started trying to use Alkahestry to heal her wounds, May beginning to strain as the circle crackled with blue Alkahestry energy.
"I can't! Her wounds are too deep! I can feel her life slipping away!" May strained as Ling's face fell in horror.
"No! Lan Fan!" Ling gasped as May stopped trying, unable to continue. That's when they both sensed something nearby, something rancid.
"There is a way to save her." A voice said from nearby. They both looked and saw the Nina Homunculus standing nearby, looking at Lan Fan with a sad look.
"You? You're a homunculus! Why should we trust you?!" Ling asked, holding his sword ready. Nina looked at Ling with a grieved expression.
"Because I'm the best chance she's got. I don't have much strength left in my stone but it should be enough to save her life." Nina said as May and Ling both looked at her in soft spoken surprise, realizing what she was offering.
"Why would you offer this? It means you'll die." Ling said as Nina placed a hand on her chest.
"A human saved my life because I reminded him of someone he couldn't save the first time. I want his pain to be eased this time by knowing that I died saving the life of a friend. Eighty people's lives were stolen to give me life. I'd like to give back what I have left." Nina said as May and Ling both gave a quiet nod.
…
About two minutes later, Lan Fan wearily opened her eyes and sat up. Ling and May were both seated on the edge of the roof, looking towards the rising sun in the east. Lan Fan felt no pain, no aches. It was like she had never been injured. She immediately rolled onto one knee in a bow.
"My lord." She said as Ling and May both smiled towards her from over their shoulder.
"How are you feeling Lan Fan?" Ling asked as Lan Fan gave him an uncertain expression.
"I'm…not sure milord. I feel…fine. But I clearly remember getting stabbed in the back. Princess Chang, I owe you my life." Lan Fan said but May shook her head sadly.
"No you don't." May replied.
"May only helped. In the end, it was a friend of the Elric brothers that saved you." Ling said as he and May both looked towards something to Lan Fan's right. Lan Fan looked and saw, lying on the roof next to her within a purification circle, was the bleached skeleton of a four year old human girl, completely devoid of any and all chimera-like qualities. (End AC)
…
(AC: The Plot Thickens – FMA:B OST 2)
Back in the tunnels running under the city, Edward and Alphonse were running through the tunnels, hurrying towards what they hoped was the temple. As they ran, Edward started to chuckle a little, unnerving Al.
"Brother, what's so funny?" Al asked.
"I just realized something, Al! That stone Garand has won't work for long!" Ed replied as they slowed down.
"What makes you say that?" Al asked.
"Remember two years ago when we met Dr. Marcoh? He showed us that same stone! It kept switching back and forth between a fluid and a solid form. He explained that it was because the stone wasn't very strong compared to others. And the stones we've seen powering the Homunculi were much bigger. So even if he does make the Immortal Alchemist, the stone he has won't last him very long, especially when Mustang and Teacher get involved!" Ed explained with a smirk, Al smirking along with him for a moment before pausing in thought.
"Unless…" Al said as Ed's smirk vanished.
"Unless he has another stone hidden away somewhere." Ed said as they both started thinking for a moment.
"If he does have another stone, where would he keep it?" Ed asked.
"His room would be the obvious choice." Al said.
"Too obvious. He'd need to hide it somewhere that no one would think to look." Ed replied. After a moment's thought, Al gasped in alarm and suddenly took off down the tunnels.
"Wait! Al! What is it?!" Ed asked as he chased Al back down the tunnels all the way back to the entrance to Garand's lab. Al immediately looked closely at the symbol for the Red Kingdom beneath the name plate for a moment with a studious gaze.
"Brother, look! Doesn't this Red Kingdom insignia look different than the others we've seen?" Al asked as Ed looked at the symbol.
"Yeah. The infinity symbol is inside the castle." Ed said before noticing something.
"Wait, Al, we've seen this castle before! It's not a castle at all! It's the temple! From a certain angle, the towers on the temple make it resemble the castle on the Red Kingdom insignia!" Ed explained.
"Yeah, so that means there's something inside the temple itself besides the Human Transmutation Circle." Al added as Ed looked at him with a grim expression.
"How much do you want to bet that that something is another Philosopher's Stone?" Ed asked as Al swallowed nervously.
"But where would he have hidden it. We both saw a lot of that temple when we first arrived. There was hardly anything in there except some old debris." Al said as Ed made sure his helmet was secure on his head.
"We'll have to look for it when we get there, and we'll have to hope that there's not a second stone!" Ed replied as they took off down the tunnels. But on the surface above them, inside the temple, hidden amongst the stonework on the floor of the temple, carved into the stone itself near the transmutation circle were two stones that formed the castle part of the Red Kingdom insignia with an infinity symbol etched into the center of it, and Garand was eyeing it as he and Morser transmuted the large black barriers over the entrances to the temple.
End Chapter 19