A/N Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Chapter Three

Ed stretched his limbs tiredly, as he realised that the train was approaching his stop. He stood up and reached for his luggage, before hopping up with boundless energy, and throwing the train door open. Stepping of the train, he looked around at the near empty station. It was almost as remote as Resembool! Well not quite,he doubted anywhere could be as remote as there. Taking long strides he started to try to find a hotel where he could stay for the next few days. He doubted he was going to be staying anywhere near that long though, as most of his other philosophers stone missions had been done in two days or less.

He paused outside of the village church. He gazed up at the massive building in wonder, taking in the stained glass windows, the spiralling turret and the balcony that gave an impressive view of the sunset. He obviously wasn't religious, but that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate the magnificent architectural work that had been put in to build this.

After he decided he had admired the church enough, Ed continued down the small street, walking over the worn cobblestones, looking for the hotel. As he did so he glanced at his surrounding, taking in the layout of the town. Edward, in his daze, almost walked right past the hotel. When he realised his mistake, he spun around and quickly walked through the entrance, which opened up into a small lobby of sorts. He strolled up to the desk and looked at the small lady that was standing behind it. She looked up at him and smiled in a motherly way, "What can I do for you today?"

Ed smiled at her. "I'm just wondering if I can take up a room for the next two nights."

The woman smiled back at him. "Of course. Your room will be straight up the stairs and the first one on the left. Come down here and give me a shout if you need anything, okay?" She handed him a brass key with a small tag on it. He presumed it was the room number.

Ed nodded his head politely. "Thanks!" He then proceeded to run up the stairs and fling open the door labelled 23.

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Ed was slowly meandering down the old, cobblestoned main street of Guilden,wondering where he should go first to pick up some information on this magician guy. With his hands in his pockets, and his mind made up, he purposely made his way towards the main park. He figured if the magician man had performed anywhere it might have been here. Also he could see quite a few people already gathered around the picnic benches the park had to offer.

The sun shone down on the grass, making it sprinkle with dew and frost, as he walked towards a bench. once he found one that had a view over the small lake, Ed settled down to see if he could overheat any conversations, before starting any himself. He casually glanced around, finding that a family of 5 were just a few metres away from him,playing with a ball.

"Daddy,Daddy! Come play with us!"

The father smiled at his childs tone of delight and made his way over to her, leaving the mother and the boys, standing next to the lake feeding the ducks.

Ed moved his head so it was angled more towards some elderly people who were chatting to themselves. He could only pick up snippets of their conversation, bit soon enough decided it was relevant.

"...my little grandson loved the trick with the..." an old lady said, leaning in towards her friends,obviously doting on her grandson.

"...amazing! A flash of red light then..." another lady said.

"...red stone. Holds it when he does the tricks and..." a younger looking woman was speaking this time,maybe in of the elderly women daughter.

Ed nodded to himself. So there was some truth to the stories the Colonel had given him. He just needed to find out where this man was now so he could corner him, beat him up, get the stone and drag him back to Central. Seemed easy enough. The next snippet of information he heard started of those .

"...show this evening. I'm bringing my youngest..."

Well, that had been easier than expected.

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It was very easy to find out where this show was going to be. All he did was follow the small but steady trickle of people heading towards the park. A small stage had been set up, most likely so everyone could have a good view. Families were sitting on rugs, people sitting on benches all around the place. He chose to lean against tred, not far from the platform, his face hidden in the shadows. To any passer-by he looked like he was sleeping.

Ed's eyes narrowed as he watched a man stepping up onto the stage, dressed in normal clothes at least,not like some of those ridiculous costumes he had seen in his travels. The man didn't introduce himself, but instead plucked a small flower from the ground. He held it in his cupped hands and a red glow engulfed him. When ut had subsided, Edward could gazed in excitement at the showering of flower petals he was now receiving, along with everyone else in the park. His thoughts were quite different though.

'Yes! Finally, a real philosophers stone! Well, it looked like it judging from the alchemical reaction. And the fact that he didn't follow the rules of equivalent exchange.' Ed though, a wide grin breaking out on his face. Then he admonished himself. 'No, don't think like that. You'll just get your hopes raised and if it turns out to be a fake, you'll be even more disappointed. I mean, look what happened in Liore. Cornello's one actually broke.'

Distracted by his thoughts, he never even noticed the following stunts the alchemist was performing. When he finally dragged himself out of them, the man was speaking.

"I thank you all for showing up today. If you want to make donations please put it into the box over there." The man pointed with his left hand to a small black box, resting on a table, situated to the right of the stage. " If you wish to speak to me, I would be delighted to engage in a conversation, around the back of this stage." He waved slightly, and after bowing, walked off the stage, using a small set of stairs.

Ed remained beside the tree, deciding he would engage this man in combat later this evening. With that decision made, he strolled off in the general direction of his hotel, in a state of euphoria.

A/N- Thanks for waiting! I'm so sorry for taking so long, but a few things happened that made me have to type this all out again. Basically a power cut that lasted over 14 hours. Yay! Next chapter will be up quicker I promise!

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