Older Then Time, Loving Forever

Suddenly you felt another presence as you heard Gluttony cry out in pain, “What was that?!” you were shocked, “Stay still!” Darius put your head down along with Edward’s. “Is there someone else?!” Edward asked, “I have no idea. I haven’t got a clue, but this is…!” Ling replied. From the red light appearing from Gluttony you all saw an outline of a person, “Glad to see you’re in top shape! I’ve been waiting for you, Lan Fan!” Ling spoke as Lan Fan looked around.

The fight continued though you couldn’t see anything at all.

“The Emperor of Xing moves our nation by manipulating the veins of the dragon, in other words, the flow of energy. We, who serve him, can also read the flow. Additionally, by virtue of our office, we can see well in the dark.” You recognized the voice clearly, “That voice…” Edward spoke, “It’s been a while, kid.” Fu spoke, “Fu! Why are you here? How did you knew where we were?” you asked, “We were lurking in Central for a bit to figure out what was going on, and we sensed a few substantial energy forms headed in this direction. So we followed them. There are two large energy forms clashing right over there, too.” Fu spoke, “I think those are Greed and Gluttony.” Edward spoke, “Greed…! The one who took over the young master’s body?! There’s also one in the woods.” Fu spoke, “A friend of ours is fighting a homunculus named Pride right now.” Darius spoke, “Right. And lastly… there’s something within the nearby village that can’t even be compared to the rest. It’s not as soft and kind as Reaka’s aura but just as strong.” Fu spoke, “So that’s why you didn’t say anything to me before?” you asked, “Yes, your aura is as strong as the other one in the slum but has a much more kinder motherly feel to it,” Fu explained, you were shocked.

“But that other aura must be my best friend… Edward’s father,” you spoke, “Him?!” Edward was shocked, “Is your father not human?!” Fu asked, “We can leave him be for now. Gotta do something about the homunculi first.” Edward spoke, “Don’t worry about Gluttony. We can leave him to Lan Fan.” Fu spoke, “Leave him to Lan Fan’…? It’s only been half a year since she got her automail attached! That’s reckless, old man! We need to help her, or she’s dead meat!” Edward explained in a hurry and ran in.

A bomb went off in his face, “What the hell?!” Edward yelled, “Don’t worry about her. Martial arts isn’t our only weapon.” Fu spoke, “If your going to blow stuff up, let us know first!” Edward yelled as another bomb went off. “Geez… In that case, I guess I can rest assured.” Edward spoke, “Wait… what other weapons do you have on you?” you asked, “A lot of stuff. Tear gas, flash bangs, and flares.” Fu explained, “The people in the slums are beginning to turn on lights. Those shadows will start to appear again.” Edward spoke, “If we don’t hurry, Heinekel will be in trouble!” Darius spoke, “Old man Fu, could you take me to where Pride is? There’s something I want you to help out with.” Edward looked serious, “Roger that.” Fu spoke, “Edward… you can seriously think about going to fight Pride… I’ve fought him before and killed me about 20 times or more…” you stood in front of him, “I’ll be fine, just wait for me ok,” Edward smiled at you, “Don’t you dare die…” you snapped, “I promise,” Edward smiled.

Edward left with Fu as you watched him go, “He’ll be fine, go back and get Edward’s father I’m sure he can help,” Darius put his hand on his shoulder, “Just make sure he doesn’t die… Edward is someone I truly do not want to lose,” you spoke, “Will do,” Darius nodded.

You ran back to the slums just to see Van walking out, “Van!” you called, “Rea, what’s going on?” Van asked, “Come quickly!” you grabbed his hand and pulled him to where you saw the fire.

Darius was bringing Alphonse to safety as you helped Darius pull him to safety, “Alphonse… Alphonse can you hear me?” you spoke holding him up.

You heard Edward yell out as you heard crashes of some sort, “Edward…” you looked back, “Go help him, I’ll try and wake up Al,” Van spoke, you nodded.

You went running off into battle, “Edward!” you called as you saw him jump backwards, “Rea! Get out of here!” Edward yelled, “No!” you ran in and taken a sudden blow from Pride protecting Edward, “Rea!” Edward pulled you back, “I don’t want to see you hurt…” you winced as your wound healed.

The fight continued the same for some time until you were all thrown backwards, you landed next to Edward and went over to see if he was ok, “Well then… The view is pretty clear now. No use in taking cover. You can’t escape from my nose.” Pride spoke as you helped Edward up, “Dammit…! Hey, you alive?!” Greed called, “More or less…” Edward put his thumb up, “Should you really be worrying about others right now, Greed? I wonder how much more you can take at this point.” Pride spoke, “You monster.” Greed snapped, “A rather rude way to address your sibling, don’t you think? Mind if I eat you?” Pride smirked, “Eat me and you’ll have a stomachache, Big Bro.” Greed smirked.

You glared at him, “Oh? Finally decided to show yourself? Hohenheim.” Pride looked to his right, you looked to your left and saw Van walking towards him. “Heroes are supposed to show up late.” Van spoke, “Oh please…” you sighed, “Heroes? So you think you’re able to defeat me?” Pride asked, a smirk plastered across his face, “Nah, that’s impossible. You’re pretty scary, after all.” Van smiled.

Pride brought his shadow in closer to the centre, you glared watching closely to see what happened as Van walked forward. Alphonse came running out the shadows but was caught right at the last second, “Wow, what a disappointing strategy. You just don’t know when to give up!” Pride spoke and brought Alphonse to his knees knocking off his helmet, “Al!” Edward yelled and went to run forward but Van stopped him. “So he came back, just to be taken hostage again? Your son is quite the odd one.” Pride smirked, “Don’t you dare… make fun of my son.” Van glared, suddenly red lightning appeared on the ground and mass amounts of the ground started to move up. Alphonse grabbed Pride in the middle and held him close, “Hohenheim!!” Pride yelled as a shadow jumped out just as the trap closed up, the shadow dissolved in the air.

“What’s the big idea?! You got Al stuck in there too! What the hell were you thinking?!” Edward yelled, “It wasn’t my idea. It was Al’s.” Van spoke looking at Edward, who was shocked.

“Defeating Pride in his current state would be difficult. And if we were to let him run loose, it would cause massive damage to the surroundings. That’s why Al offered to use himself as a decoy to trap him without engaging in combat. With this, we’ve gained some time to work out a plan.” Van explained, “But you guys didn’t even discuss it with me-” “He said,’If I were to tell Brother, he’d definitely be against it. He did the best he could to think of a way that would keep everyone alive. Don’t get mad at him.” Van explained, you stepped forward and held Edward’s hand.

“Okay, let’s start with putting this fire out.” Van spoke and walked back, “Coming Rea?” Van asked, “Sure,” you nodded, softly squeezing Edward’s hand as you left.



You were all discussing the plan for The Promised Day, choosing what would be best and what would be an alternate. While Darius and Heinekel explained what happened to Jerso and Zampano who showed up with Doctor Marcoh and Scar. “Are you ok with this Fu?” you asked, him, “Of course, I’ll be heading off then,” Fu spoke, you nodded as he turned and left.

“Where did the old man run off to?” Darius asked, “He went to go scout out the town.” Edward spoke, “Alone?” Darius was shocked, “Yes, his face hasn’t been seen by the enemy so that’s a bonus. He said he’d go and check up on a couple of things, such as Roy Mustang’s movements, and most likely to find Ling.” You explained, “Ah, makes sense.” Darius spoke.

“Are you done making arrangements with Scar and them?” Jerso asked, “Yeah. The plan has been decided.” Edward spoke, “I see. So it’s time at last.” Darius looked at Scar.

You walked with Edward and found his red coat on the floor, you picked it up and shook it, making the dirty fall off. “Your brother is pretty gutsy. He’s trapped in there with that monster in pitch darkness, after all. If it were me, I would have gone crazy by now.” Darius spoke, “Yeah.” Edward glared at the mound, which held Alphonse and Pride. “Al’s giving it his all. Now, the rest… is up to us!” Edward looked at you holding his coat ready to be put on. Edward pulled it over his shoulders as the sun rose from the horizon. “The Promised Day… is here!” Edward spoke.