Chapter Three: The Temple of the Titans

Upon reaching the top of the hill, Edward used his hand as a visor, looking through the trees to locate his target. It was there, the Temple of the Titans!

"Fulbar!" Someone shouted out, "Fulbar, there you are! We were looking all over for you, why'd you run off like that?"

"Ah, General, there you are, I just wandered off, felt that someone was looking for me, so I had to keep going," Edward responded.

Rockwell smirked, "Well, at least warn us next time you do that, come on, let's get back to camp,"

Edward began to follow Rockwell back to their camp, "General, are you really fine with accompanying me on this journey? I'm sure you have much more important things to be doing,"

Rockwell looked to Edward, her eyes looked cold and serious, piercing his soul, "Well," She loosened up, "You're that troublesome father of that Crane girl, so of course I'm happy to help, I'm just glad I could track you down,"

Edward's demeanor shifted, he spoke lowly, almost like he was afraid of breaking an invisible glass barrier that sat in front of him.

"How is she, my daughter? I haven't heard from her since… Well, since when she was born,"

"If I had to say," Rockwell smiled, "She's done quite well for herself, she's even helped out the military quite a bit, your daughter's just fine on her own,"

Rockwell and Edward both wore a proud smile but said nothing else. Nothing really needed to be said, they both felt responsible for Auria.

The walk back to camp was uneventful, they didn't speak much except for an occasional cough or sigh or pointing out some local wildlife.

"You know," Rockwell started as they reached the camp, "She loves you with all her heart, Auria does, so when you finally meet her, don't be awkward about it ya big oaf,"

Rockwell gave Edward a big slap on the back, "She's been looking for you all this time, so play nice!" She added before walking off to her tent and leaving Edward all alone with his thoughts.

Edward and Rockwell made their way into the temple, they both lit a torch to see more clearly through the vast ocean of darkness that engulfed the entire interior.

Edward wasted no time in marching onwards, leaving Rockwell to stumble for a moment before following closely behind him.

"Hey, I didn't ask before, but what exactly are we trying to find here? I don't know if you realized, people don't typically come here, there's not much to look for,"

Edward didn't respond, he just looked to the walls, holding his torch over them to illuminate them. He took brief pauses seemingly at random to inspect the wall before continuing onwards.

The two walked in silence for a while, Edward continuing to inspect the walls while Rockwell just stood and watched.

Edward drew a transmutation circle with some chalk he took from his pocket onto the brick, then placing his palm on it, causing the bricks on the wall to all fold backward and granting a path deeper into the Temple.

Edward, without skipping a beat, just walked through the path, leaving Rockwell sputtering for a moment, though she soon joined and followed him.

The path spiraled, winding, winding, winding around a single point. It was difficult to see the end, even with a torch, so it was quite easy to accidentally hit a wall or trip over the smallest of objects.

Finally reaching the bottom, Edward looked out to the vast void of darkness, he scanned through the void for a while before he spotted it. Edward rushed into the darkness, completely leaving Rockwell behind.

"Hey, Edward!" Rockwell yelled out before sighing and rushing after him.

"Don't come closer!" Edward shouted out, "You'll get hurt if you do, this is a job only I can do,"

Rockwell stopped, looking into the void, trying to see Edward, "I really hope you know what you're doing then, I'll go back up… And try not to die,"

Rockwell retreated back to the light, leaving Edward to his own devices. He searched and looked around for a few moments before he pulled something from the darkness, a small chalice. A smile grew across Edward's face. He stuffed the chalice in his coat pocket, a temporary solution.

Edward made his way back to the top, meeting up with Rockwell. Even through the darkness, it was clear that she was giving him a small grin.

"Well then, General, shall we wait outside? It is much too dark here to really keep sane for too long," Edward commented.

Rockwell nodded and together the two of them made their way back to the entrance. Edward took a seat at the top of the stairs leading into the temple, Rockwell taking a seat next to him.

"You find what you need?" Rockwell asked.

Edward nodded, "Yes," He responded as he reached into his pocket and pulled out two small apple seeds. A flash of light erupted from Edward's palm, and as it settled, there rested two apples in his hand.

"Apple for your troubles?" Edward offered, "I don't doubt that experience made you a bit hungry, you could use a bite to eat,"

Rockwell smirked and took the apple, "You Alchemists are all so weird, all those powers and whatnot you got," She commented as she then took a bite of the apple though surprisingly, as she did so, the juices gushed all over her.

Edward took a bite of his respective apple, "I tried to make them juicier than average, though I might have gone a bit overboard,"

"What the hell did you do to these apples?" Rockwell exclaimed, "And don't look at me with that dead fish stare! You're soaked with the apple too!"

Edward stared at Rockwell as though he had no idea what she was going on about, "I apologize, I have not the slightest clue as to what you are referring to, there are no apples here,"

"What the hell do you mean, it's right he-" Rockwell cut herself off as the apple that had previously been in her hand was replaced with a palm-sized blueberry.

"Only berries around here," Edward said, taking a bite of his own palm-sized blueberry, continuing to act oblivious.

Rockwell threw her blueberry into Edward's face, to which it combusted upon impact with his face, "Burn in Hell, Edward!"

Edward just continued to bite into his palm-sized blueberry, "I'll be sure to add that to the list, now, do you want an apple?"