Hi,
it's Amy again. Al and I have been trying to find Estren for a while.
Unfortunately, we had no way of entering the River. Not without the
help of a Dying Man piece. And we've been unable to find one. At
least, we have been. We've been hiding out in this abandoned
apartment, and someone knocked on the door earlier tonight. It was
Cleopatra.
“What
do you want?” Al asked.
“I
was asked to track you down,” she said.
“By
who?” he asked.
“I'll
show you in a minute,” she said. “But first, I need to fix that
mask.”
“What
do you mean fix it?” I asked.
“Shut
up for a bit,” she said, putting on her own mask.
It
was silent for a couple of minutes, before Al removed his mask and
had a look at it. The 7 and spade were both gone, replaced by a new
symbol. On the left half of the mask was a skull that was partially
cut off by the mask's edge, with a large bat-like wing sprouting from
its temple and taking up most of the right half. Overlapping the wing
was a large, jagged A.
“You
modified it,” he said.
“That's
right,” she said. “The new symbol reflects your soul, and I half
to say, it ooks quite nice, Alphonse.”
“Don't
call me by my name,” he said. “From now on, call me...”
He
stopped and thought for a moment.
“The
Ace Of Skulls,” he said, after a while.
“Nice
title,” she said. “Fitting.”
“Now
tell me who sent you,” he asked.
“I
did,” said a new voice.
We
all turned to see a … figure, sitting on the couch. He was
completely transparent, and was glowing softly. I couldn't make out
his face, but his hair was really long and didn't seem to have any
color. At least, no color that could be described in words.
“You,”
Al said.
“Long
time no see,” the transparent guy said.
“Why
are you here?” Al asked.
“Because
you need my help,” the figure said, simply. “You require the
assistance of a Dyuing Man fragment, and it just so happens I know
where to find one.”
“Why
would you want to help me?” Al said. “I have my reasons,” the
figure said. “Now, follow me.
Cleopatra
left, and me and Al followed the weird glowing dude. We came to an
alleyway.
“He
should be around here pretty soon,” the glowing man said.
“And
what shard is this?” Al asked.
“It's
called Killer,” the man said. “It's important that you absorb it
as quickly as you can. As a Card, you should be able to control it
for the most part.”
“This
sounds like a terrible idea,” Al said.
“Of
course it is,” the glowing man said. “All my ideas are terrible.”
With
that, the glowing man faded away. We waited or a few minutes, before
a man came walking through the alley. He was moving slowly, as if he
were a zombie, and was dragging a sword behind him. He had a weird
smile on his face, and kept repeating the word “Kill”.
“I
guess this is our guy,” Al said.
He
charged, and knocked the man out effortlessly. He then absorbed the
Dying Man from inside him. He immediately began clutching his head
and screaming.
“Al!”
I said. “Are you okay!?”
“Kill!”
he exclaimed, rising to his feet. “Kill! Kill! Kill!”
“Are...
you okay?” I asked, taking a step back.
He
shook his head.
“I'm
fine,” he said. “I... I think I have it under control now.”
“Are
you sure?” I asked.
“Yeah,”
he said. “I'm fine.”
So,
now Al's possessed by a Dying Man shard. We're going to use it to get
to the River, but we need to make some preparations first. I'm gonna
have to keep an eye of Al for a while, in case Killer tries to take
over again. Hopefully that won't happen.
