On a grim day the sky was blood-red from the light of the sunset. This was a day unlike any other before it, one leading to infamy.
A red-haired woman with green eyes in a dark gown stood at the center of a large circle with intricate patterns, looking upwards with her hands raised to the sky. She was surrounded by cages filled with people protesting loudly against their circumstances.
Then the circle began glowing and emitted crackles of arcing electricity as something the color of the sunset formed above the woman, gathering in the air. In a bright flash all the screaming people suddenly vanished, leaving behind nothing but the clothes they'd been wearing. A red chunk of what almost seemed like translucent marble materialized above the woman and floated into her eagerly waiting palms. Nearby, a man with golden eyes and golden hair styled into a small beard and ponytail watched in awe.
But as the woman clasped the mysterious stone in her hands and gazed at it she quickly began feeling unwell. Her pupils shrank, her grin became pained, her nose began dripping red and she reared back to cough up blood. Her observer's expression turned to one of shock and horror as the woman swayed and crumpled to her knees, clutching her hands at her chest. The man rushed forward and stretched his arms out to break her fall as she collapsed onto her back.
"Dante!" The man cried out in worry. The woman named Dante gritted her teeth through the pain wracking her being and formed a weak smile, tears streaming from her eyes. "Hohenheim… we did it… we made… a Philosopher's Stone…" The man named Hohenheim looked at the treasure in Dante's hands and turned his attention back to her. "Yes, we did… but at what cost?" "All that matters… is that I… was able to fulfill this dream… Hohenheim…" Dante slowly closed her eyes as her head lolled to the side.
Hohenheim gritted his teeth in frustration, shedding tears of his own, then clenched his eyes shut, only to open them with a look of grim determination. "No. It will not end this way. I shall not allow it!" He grabbed the item called a Philosopher's Stone, channeled a current of red electricity from it, yelled at the sky and plunged the rock straight into Dante's chest.
A while later Dante and Hohenheim stood on the balcony of a large mansion overlooking a forest. Dante leaned her head against Hohenheim's right shoulder as they held hands. "Why did you do it, Hohenheim?" "Come again?" "Why did you give up all of our hard work to save me? Why?" Hohenheim paused before responding. "Because I believed in you having a future of your own beyond my research; that you deserved to live life however you wanted. Seeing it cut short so tragically was not something I could watch without intervention." "Thank you, Hohenheim."