"Father, I'm here." A girl said, entering through Roy's doors and sitting on the couch.
"Your quest isn't going well either, is it?" He said, getting right to the point. She let out a sigh, tossing a diamond in her pale hand.
"Nothing but killing and dead ends dad... " She was so over all of this, "There's no way we're getting her back Sir, I have failed Hawkeye's daughter. I have failed my best friend. I have failed Lotus..." Roy saw her use her gloved hand to cover her face.
"what's the point in covering your face if you can't cry?"She then realized her action and her hand was placed back at her side.
"Force of habit I guess. You know, back when I could actually feel things."
"you can still physically feel things." He pointed out. "Just emotionally... It's like your taking baby steps from the beginning, just gotta work your way up." She then slammed her gloved hand against the arm of the sofa, turning it into nothing but parts and splinters.
"Ember!" He shouted firmly, just as he heard the door handle turn. She quickly got up and began a salute, just in case it was someone of higher authority, which is almost everyone. Then a boy walked in, Gold hair, brownish eyes, a little taller than she was. He was probably older too, he was followed by a boy wearing a large suit of armor, and none other than Roy's loyal assistant.
"Hawkeye." she Kept her firm salute.
"Ember," she saluted, allowing Ember to drop her hands at her sides. "How long were you here? Lotus has been outside for awhile." Ember side.
"Just need more time before I face her without information on saving her, again." She then looked up at the two boys. "They who I think they are?" Hawkeye smiled and gestured to the boys.
"These are the Elric brothers, Edward, More known as the-"
"Fullmetal alchemist." she finished. "And Alphonse Elric, Younger brother that's with him twenty-four-seven." she went into a perfect salute once again. "Meeting one of the youngest soldiers as well as myself is a true honor Ma'am, I thank you for the introduction." The boys were muttering with Roy and failed to notice the girl until now.
"What the-? How long was she there?" Edward asked as Ember broke the salute.
"I expected them to be more attentive to detail." she said, not trying to tease but caused Roy and his assistant to laugh a bit. Mustang stood and gestured to his daughter.
"Boys, this is my daughter Ember Mustang-"
"Daughter?" Alphonse interrupted.
"He didn't know he had me until a few years ago," she said, clarifying Alphonse's mind. Edward looked at her and found a pocketwatch dangled at her waist.
"So, state alchemist?"
"Now that's the Elric I though I knew." he said with a smirk. both boys gasped,
"No way we haven't met you before!" she let out a sigh.
"Try picturing me about 5 years ago, we were 13 at the time, well, you were 15 but no matter. Little girl, short black hair, always had something worn diamond related, wore this jacket that was 10 sizes too-"
"Miranda!" Alphonse shouted. "I thought you died!" Edward's eyes widened, the was no way she was..
"Mi...Miranda..." Ember sighed, she probably shouldn't have said anything to him. She had a feeling he would blame himself for what happened that night.
"The Miranda you all knew is somewhat dead, but at the same time, I was born from her ashes. I'm Ember, Ember Mustang." Edward remembered she wold run up and hug them without a second thought. Her smile would pull the sun out of the sky if she wanted to do so. But she was still, her hands at her sides, her smile long gone. The Miranda he knew really was gone.
"So what did happen to you Mira-I-I mean Ember?" Alphonse asked. "We haven't seen you since the night-"
"You left..." Edward said. Ember averted her eyes.
"I didn't leave... The foster home didn't want me.. They found my father and sent me to him, where I joined the military that year." She said.
"It was so sudden Miranda... I didn't even get to say goodbye." Ember glanced at him, willing her body to feel something, anything, but failed.
"She didn't let you say goodbye because she wanted to see you again." Roy said, knowing her thoughts. Ember looked to Hawkeye.
"I'm going to go get Lotus, you can explain to her you didn't find a lead on your stone, she hasn't got anything either." Ember let out a sigh of releif.
"Who's Lotus?" Alphonse asked.
"What stone are you looking for?'" Edward said, the thought of her looking for the same thing as him was both amazing and fearful.
"Tired." Was all she said before walking back to the couch and laying on it, her arms covering her face, the hand with a black glove was to far down and her sleeve was too far up, her arm shown brightly in the sunlight. Edward looked at her confused.
"Brother, look at her arm, it's reflecting." Alphonse was right, her arm was casting slight rainbows along the walls on Roy's office.
"Her arm... she doesn't have her arm?" Ember wasn't asleep yet, but refused to let on that, she was going to hear what they were going to say.
"Not only that, it's made of diamonds. How did she get so many?" Edward sighed remembering she always wore a diamond necklace or a diamond bracelet or just carried around the shiny stone all the time.
'It's a gift from my father.' She sang happily, tossing it between her little hands. 'Every year on my birthday he sends me diamonds, though I wish he would come back for me instead...'
"She got them from you, Roy, didn't she?" He nodded.
"Her mother died giving birth to her, I left her with the closest foster to me before I left on military business. I sent her gifts to remind her she wasn't alone, and when the time came I would come back for her." He looked at her arm. "Before you ask her leg is like that too." Their eyes widened.
"How did she get hurt so bad?" The image went through Roy's head.
'Flame! you have to do it! You have to cut it off before she dies!' Ember had no say in the matter, her eyes were squeezed shut, the pain along with the dark matter in her arm crawling up her arm, along her neck, and slowly moving towards her face.
'I am not cutting off her arm!'
'You're the only one who can!'
'S-Sir...' Ember stuttered. 'Lotus...' Ember felt the matter begin covering her eye and part of her mouth.
'Mustang! cut it off now!' Mustang watched her daughter, she began coughing out the dark liquid. 'Roy I know you don't want to hurt your daughter but you have to save her!' Mustang then sighed and looked away.
'Ember, this is going to hurt.' was all he said, covering his face with one hand while using the other hand and snapping his fingers, instantly cutting off her arm and searing her wound shut with his flame alchemy. Being cut at the source of the liquid caused the rest to retreat from her body as she screamed in pain.
'Get a medical team in here now.'
'Hues, I'm telling you right now, she better make it.' he said before leaving his daughter in hands of professionals
"Battle." He answered as the door opened and a girl in a suit of slim looking armor ran through the doors.
"Ember! I know you're awake!" she shouted, picking up the girl as if it was nothing and flew her into the wall. Ember let out a slightly pained noise as she slowly stood back up.
"Long time huh, Lotus." she said, no emotion held in her voice.
"Why did you keep me outside for so long? it's been 2 hours!"
"Big whoop." Ember said flatly. Alphonse looked at Lotus, he couldn't see a reflection of a person inside the suit of armor. No eyes, No nose, No face, nothing. It was a slim suited armor, probably meant for a woman. There was a long ribbon almost like a ponytail, and the helmet looked more like one meant for riding bikes, the suit itself was titanium, he could see that, with leather gloves as well as boots.
'She looks kind of pretty.' he thought 'W-Wait! Your saying that based on clothing you don't even know what she looks like!'
Mustang shouted above all the people.
"I cannot have this many people flooding my office!" Ember was the first to respond.
"My apologies sir! This soldier will leave immediately!" She then made for the door.
"I don't think so Em! Leaving me out there that long is going to cost you more than the wall-" She was interrupted when Ember blankly and without effort, did a backwards roundhouse kick, causing the armor in her stomach to break and fall off, revealing no one inside.
"Th-There's no one in there!" Edward shouted, confirming that the armor was in fact empty.
"Shit." Ember said.
"Really Ember, all you have to say is 'shit'." Lotus said in an annoyed tone
"Well then, fuck."
"Ember I swear to-"
"Lotus!" Hawkeye shouted to her daughter. "Out! We need to talk about how you treat your savior, again!" she then dragged the broken and empty armor by the ribbon as she replied with a series of "Fine and "Ouch." Edward looked to Ember.
"You did that to her?" Ember sighed at the question.
"If you mean saved her life, then yes, yes I did." Alphonse gave a look of shock.
"So she's just like me?"
"Yes. I've been trying to find a way to get her body back, but I'm not getting any leads and neither is she."
"How did you guys get in the same situation as us?" Alphonse asked. "Did you guys use human trans-"
"Not our own own accord." She interrupted flatly. "Long story short we did. But not for our own reasons or at our own consent."
"Then how?" Edward asked.
The memory slowly made it's way into Ember's Vision...