Funny someone should mention Pride...
Day
One, A Cell
The
first thing I noticed was the painful in my head. I groaned and
reached out, wrapping my fingers around metal shafts of some kind. My
eyes blinked open, thankfully the place was dark, lit only by a
series of what looked like oil lamps. I levered myself up into a
sitting position and took a moment to gather as much information as I
could.
I
was in a cell of some kind, with metal bars and floor. There was a
cot on the far side of the small prison, but the entire place was
canted at a severe angle. I must have fallen out of bed and straight
into the bars.
“Hey,
you're awake!”
Looking
down I noticed there was a boy underneath me, hanging from the wall
of my cell with both hands. He had bright yellow hair and matching
eyes, his face was lean and smudged with dirt and what looked
disturbingly like dried blood. Despite the circumstances he was
grinning. “Man, I thought the fall must have knocked your brain
loose for a moment. That was a pretty bad knock.”
“Knock?”
I said, my voice was dry and... strangely unfamiliar. I reached up
and touched the side of my head, feeling my scalp through a short
layer of fine hair. The hair was matted with dried blood. At least I
wasn't bleeding. “What's going on? Who are you? Where am I?”
“There
was some sort of explosion,” the boy hanging monkey-like below me
explained. “I'm Ed and I have no idea where we are.”
I
attempted to stand and then nearly toppled. The fact I was trying to
stand on metal bars was partly responsible but mostly my balance just
felt... off. “What the...” I glanced down at myself. “Huh?
Where is... what happened!” I shrieked and started grabbing at my
chest and hips. “This isn't right! What happened to me!”
“I
haven't a clue,” Ed replied. “You've been unconscious since I got
here.”
I
felt the beginning of panic rising in the back of my head. Still,
panic would do me no good. I needed to focus, control myself. Find
out what happened first, fix it later. I stumble-stepped over to the
cell door, my balance growing more sure with each step. I repressed
the shudder at how quickly I seemed to be adapting to my
circumstances. Thankfully the cell was small enough that I could
reach the latch without having to climb, unfortunately it was locked.
Peering
outside I could see a hallway heading in both directions. It was
short, just long enough for five cells with mine in the middle. Only
mine and Ed's were occupied. At the “top” of the hallway was a
door, also secured. A pair of oil lamps hung from chains next to the
door, one of them had been knocked out by the violent shift. The
other was swinging around, casting haphazard shadows across the hall
and cells.
“The
bars are pretty tough,” Ed said below me. I glanced down, he had
shimmed over to the door of his own cell. “I can't break out.”
“Right...”
I shook the cell door myself and it rattled in its moorings but
didn't budge.
“Also,
I think the place is on fire.”
“Fire?”
“Can't
you feel the building heat?”
Now
that he mentioned it, I could feel the place was pretty hot. I
reached up and wiped some sweat from my brow. The metal was also
loosing its cool touch. My mind conjured up images of the two of us
broiling alive in this artificial oven, but I quashed them before
panic could claim me.
“There
has to be a way out...” I growled.
“If
only I had my alchemy!” Ed snapped.
“Alchemy?”
I looked down.
Ed
gave me an odd look. “You've never heard of it? No, I suppose you
would think of it as alkahestry?” I shook my head. “Uh... well,
lets just say if I could do it, I could bust us out with ease.”
“What's
the problem?” I asked.
“I...
lost the ability to do alchemy.” He paused. “Though maybe you
can?”
I
knelt down and looked at him. “Can do what?”
“Save
both our skins.” He monkey-climbed back up the bars to the corner
shared by our cells and the hallway. He wrapped one arm around a bar
and planted one foot firmly before raising his fingers to his lips
and biting it. I
blinked as he drew blood. His eyes narrowed in pain but he ignored it
and began to use the blood flowing from his fingers to sketch a
symbol onto the metal floor. The symbol quickly grew in complexity
and size. The shape of it teased at my memory, like I should
recognize it but didn't. He raised his hand up then glanced at me
critically. “No, he doesn't know his basics, have to compensate...”
he muttered before starting to modify it.
“What
are you doing?”
“Need
to concentrate. Equations are difficult to inscribe without you doing
the math like I can?”
“Math?”
“Only
a small fraction of the alchemic equation is resolved through the
symbol. The vast majority is done in your head...” He examined the
symbol again. “If only I had chalk, or charcoal...” He looked
back up at me. “Okay, this is as good as I can get it. You have to
work quickly before the blood run. Place your hands on the symbol.”
“What?
That's disgusting!”
“Do
you want to die here?” he snapped. I was beginning not to like this
guy. Sighing I repressed my disgust and placed both hands on the
symbol. It felt less awful then I thought it would, especially if I
didn't focus on what I was doing. “Okay, now close your eyes and
focus. You have to concentrate and not let your mind wander. The
equation is really simple, and I did most of the work... my blood
should help as well. Just, let it solve itself in your mind.”
I
gave the symbol one final glance before closing my eyes and focusing
like he told me. The symbol seemed to burn in my vision even after my
eyelids shut. The symbol looked incomplete. No... not incomplete.
Jumbled and broken, like a puzzle. All the parts where there, but in
the wrong order. In my mind's eye I spun the pieces in place, moving
one ideogram here, another there... it was a very simple puzzle.
Then
I felt a bizarre warmth spreading up my hands and pulled them back
with a hiss. My eyes snapped open and the symbol had transformed into
some form of blue lightning. The lightning snaked up the bars,
ripping them apart. My mouth dropped open as the cells vanished,
leaving behind only a cloud of red dust that sunk through the air.
“Wow...”
Ed said.
“What
just happened?”
“Very
simple alchemy. Rapid oxidation of the iron in the bars, using the
iron in my blood as a catalyst. Still, that was amazing. The reaction
was a lot bigger than I expected for a first try.”
“That
really didn't explain anything,” I pointed out.
“We'll
talk about that later. First, we have to get out of here.”
I
nodded, reluctantly. The 'alchemy' had destroyed enough of the bars
that it was easy to climb out into the hall. While climbing up to the
door I felt a shudder pass through the structure again, then a lurch
which nearly threw me off the bars. The entire hallway tilted again,
until it was standing completely on end. The oil lamp swung around
crazily and for a moment I thought I saw mocking eyes buried in the
rapidly shifting shadows. My mind froze at the thought of that lamp
falling and putting out our only source of light, but it somehow
remained in place. I bit back a curse, but easily kept my grip.
“Hurry
up!” Ed shouted.
“I'm
going as fast as I can.”
To
my immense satisfaction the door at the top was open. I had to wrap
my knees around the bars and lean out far into the hallway to reach
the latch. My fingers were slick with sweat, fumbling for purchase
but eventually I grabbed hold. The door opened outward, and managing
to push it up and out against the pressure of gravity (who the hell
made a heavy steel door like this, anyway?) was nervewracking.
Eventually
we made it up into the next hallway. A quick glance showed that the
path split, though I could feel intense heat from the right. Ed
crawled up after me and sat against the wall, panting. “Damn...
wore myself out a bit. I'm going to need your help to get out of
here.”
“Can't
you...” I glanced back at him and then spotted something I had
missed before. His left leg was missing below the knee, the fabric of
his black pants hanging limp from the stump. I stared at him in
shock. “Did they... did they do that to you?”
“My
leg?” Ed grimaced at it. “No, that was my own stupid fault.
Though they must have taken my automail while I was asleep.”
“Did
they... did they do anything to you?” I reached down towards my
crotch and then forced my hands to the side, clenching them into
fists.
“Anything?”
Ed snorted. “Aside from taking my automail? No. Listen, we have to
get out of here before the fire spreads or this place collapses
totally. We can talk about my past history later.”
“Right...”
I looked to the left. “Away from the heat then, and... up?”
“Sounds
good.”
Just
as I was debating what to do about Ed's poor mobility a voice shouted
from the left hand hallway. I glanced over and saw three figures
turning the corner. All three of them were dressed in some sort of
red lammelar armour of a style I didn't recognize. They also wore
white ghost-face masks and carried spears. “It's the prisoners!
They've escaped!” one shouted in surprise.
“Just
saves us the trouble of climbing down to their cells,” another
responded. “The Princess' order still stands.”
“Right,
right...” The first one stepped forward. “You there, halt!” He
brandished his spear.
[
]We can solve this situation peacefully.
[
]If I leave Ed behind, I can probably escape while they are busy.
[
]They're armed, we're not. Flee to the right.
[
]It's time for violence!
----------
Epsilon
Day
One, A Cell
The
first thing I noticed was the painful in my head. I groaned and
reached out, wrapping my fingers around metal shafts of some kind. My
eyes blinked open, thankfully the place was dark, lit only by a
series of what looked like oil lamps. I levered myself up into a
sitting position and took a moment to gather as much information as I
could.
I
was in a cell of some kind, with metal bars and floor. There was a
cot on the far side of the small prison, but the entire place was
canted at a severe angle. I must have fallen out of bed and straight
into the bars.
“Hey,
you're awake!”
Looking
down I noticed there was a boy underneath me, hanging from the wall
of my cell with both hands. He had bright yellow hair and matching
eyes, his face was lean and smudged with dirt and what looked
disturbingly like dried blood. Despite the circumstances he was
grinning. “Man, I thought the fall must have knocked your brain
loose for a moment. That was a pretty bad knock.”
“Knock?”
I said, my voice was dry and... strangely unfamiliar. I reached up
and touched the side of my head, feeling my scalp through a short
layer of fine hair. The hair was matted with dried blood. At least I
wasn't bleeding. “What's going on? Who are you? Where am I?”
“There
was some sort of explosion,” the boy hanging monkey-like below me
explained. “I'm Ed and I have no idea where we are.”
I
attempted to stand and then nearly toppled. The fact I was trying to
stand on metal bars was partly responsible but mostly my balance just
felt... off. “What the...” I glanced down at myself. “Huh?
Where is... what happened!” I shrieked and started grabbing at my
chest and hips. “This isn't right! What happened to me!”
“I
haven't a clue,” Ed replied. “You've been unconscious since I got
here.”
I
felt the beginning of panic rising in the back of my head. Still,
panic would do me no good. I needed to focus, control myself. Find
out what happened first, fix it later. I stumble-stepped over to the
cell door, my balance growing more sure with each step. I repressed
the shudder at how quickly I seemed to be adapting to my
circumstances. Thankfully the cell was small enough that I could
reach the latch without having to climb, unfortunately it was locked.
Peering
outside I could see a hallway heading in both directions. It was
short, just long enough for five cells with mine in the middle. Only
mine and Ed's were occupied. At the “top” of the hallway was a
door, also secured. A pair of oil lamps hung from chains next to the
door, one of them had been knocked out by the violent shift. The
other was swinging around, casting haphazard shadows across the hall
and cells.
“The
bars are pretty tough,” Ed said below me. I glanced down, he had
shimmed over to the door of his own cell. “I can't break out.”
“Right...”
I shook the cell door myself and it rattled in its moorings but
didn't budge.
“Also,
I think the place is on fire.”
“Fire?”
“Can't
you feel the building heat?”
Now
that he mentioned it, I could feel the place was pretty hot. I
reached up and wiped some sweat from my brow. The metal was also
loosing its cool touch. My mind conjured up images of the two of us
broiling alive in this artificial oven, but I quashed them before
panic could claim me.
“There
has to be a way out...” I growled.
“If
only I had my alchemy!” Ed snapped.
“Alchemy?”
I looked down.
Ed
gave me an odd look. “You've never heard of it? No, I suppose you
would think of it as alkahestry?” I shook my head. “Uh... well,
lets just say if I could do it, I could bust us out with ease.”
“What's
the problem?” I asked.
“I...
lost the ability to do alchemy.” He paused. “Though maybe you
can?”
I
knelt down and looked at him. “Can do what?”
“Save
both our skins.” He monkey-climbed back up the bars to the corner
shared by our cells and the hallway. He wrapped one arm around a bar
and planted one foot firmly before raising his fingers to his lips
and biting it. I
blinked as he drew blood. His eyes narrowed in pain but he ignored it
and began to use the blood flowing from his fingers to sketch a
symbol onto the metal floor. The symbol quickly grew in complexity
and size. The shape of it teased at my memory, like I should
recognize it but didn't. He raised his hand up then glanced at me
critically. “No, he doesn't know his basics, have to compensate...”
he muttered before starting to modify it.
“What
are you doing?”
“Need
to concentrate. Equations are difficult to inscribe without you doing
the math like I can?”
“Math?”
“Only
a small fraction of the alchemic equation is resolved through the
symbol. The vast majority is done in your head...” He examined the
symbol again. “If only I had chalk, or charcoal...” He looked
back up at me. “Okay, this is as good as I can get it. You have to
work quickly before the blood run. Place your hands on the symbol.”
“What?
That's disgusting!”
“Do
you want to die here?” he snapped. I was beginning not to like this
guy. Sighing I repressed my disgust and placed both hands on the
symbol. It felt less awful then I thought it would, especially if I
didn't focus on what I was doing. “Okay, now close your eyes and
focus. You have to concentrate and not let your mind wander. The
equation is really simple, and I did most of the work... my blood
should help as well. Just, let it solve itself in your mind.”
I
gave the symbol one final glance before closing my eyes and focusing
like he told me. The symbol seemed to burn in my vision even after my
eyelids shut. The symbol looked incomplete. No... not incomplete.
Jumbled and broken, like a puzzle. All the parts where there, but in
the wrong order. In my mind's eye I spun the pieces in place, moving
one ideogram here, another there... it was a very simple puzzle.
Then
I felt a bizarre warmth spreading up my hands and pulled them back
with a hiss. My eyes snapped open and the symbol had transformed into
some form of blue lightning. The lightning snaked up the bars,
ripping them apart. My mouth dropped open as the cells vanished,
leaving behind only a cloud of red dust that sunk through the air.
“Wow...”
Ed said.
“What
just happened?”
“Very
simple alchemy. Rapid oxidation of the iron in the bars, using the
iron in my blood as a catalyst. Still, that was amazing. The reaction
was a lot bigger than I expected for a first try.”
“That
really didn't explain anything,” I pointed out.
“We'll
talk about that later. First, we have to get out of here.”
I
nodded, reluctantly. The 'alchemy' had destroyed enough of the bars
that it was easy to climb out into the hall. While climbing up to the
door I felt a shudder pass through the structure again, then a lurch
which nearly threw me off the bars. The entire hallway tilted again,
until it was standing completely on end. The oil lamp swung around
crazily and for a moment I thought I saw mocking eyes buried in the
rapidly shifting shadows. My mind froze at the thought of that lamp
falling and putting out our only source of light, but it somehow
remained in place. I bit back a curse, but easily kept my grip.
“Hurry
up!” Ed shouted.
“I'm
going as fast as I can.”
To
my immense satisfaction the door at the top was open. I had to wrap
my knees around the bars and lean out far into the hallway to reach
the latch. My fingers were slick with sweat, fumbling for purchase
but eventually I grabbed hold. The door opened outward, and managing
to push it up and out against the pressure of gravity (who the hell
made a heavy steel door like this, anyway?) was nervewracking.
Eventually
we made it up into the next hallway. A quick glance showed that the
path split, though I could feel intense heat from the right. Ed
crawled up after me and sat against the wall, panting. “Damn...
wore myself out a bit. I'm going to need your help to get out of
here.”
“Can't
you...” I glanced back at him and then spotted something I had
missed before. His left leg was missing below the knee, the fabric of
his black pants hanging limp from the stump. I stared at him in
shock. “Did they... did they do that to you?”
“My
leg?” Ed grimaced at it. “No, that was my own stupid fault.
Though they must have taken my automail while I was asleep.”
“Did
they... did they do anything to you?” I reached down towards my
crotch and then forced my hands to the side, clenching them into
fists.
“Anything?”
Ed snorted. “Aside from taking my automail? No. Listen, we have to
get out of here before the fire spreads or this place collapses
totally. We can talk about my past history later.”
“Right...”
I looked to the left. “Away from the heat then, and... up?”
“Sounds
good.”
Just
as I was debating what to do about Ed's poor mobility a voice shouted
from the left hand hallway. I glanced over and saw three figures
turning the corner. All three of them were dressed in some sort of
red lammelar armour of a style I didn't recognize. They also wore
white ghost-face masks and carried spears. “It's the prisoners!
They've escaped!” one shouted in surprise.
“Just
saves us the trouble of climbing down to their cells,” another
responded. “The Princess' order still stands.”
“Right,
right...” The first one stepped forward. “You there, halt!” He
brandished his spear.
[
]We can solve this situation peacefully.
[
]If I leave Ed behind, I can probably escape while they are busy.
[
]They're armed, we're not. Flee to the right.
[
]It's time for violence!
----------
Epsilon