What drew tears from her eyes was not that her Colonel was dead, but that she hadn't been able to save him.
Her grief for his life would come later, but as her knees sank to the cool floor all she was filled with was regret, and anger. She'd failed him. She'd failed herself.
How could she break her promise?
The black locks sauntered forward, the red eyes gleaming as if the stone was in front of her. The cold eyes moved around her, peering at her every flaw and crevice. The Lieutenant's brown eyes could not meet the intensity of her enemy's.
She heard the crying out of a boy. He urged her to move, but without the Colonel how could she?
She'd promised herself that after he was gone, or completed his journey, she'd break the red string between her and the man. She'd break the tie between Flame Alchemy and the world.
Her tears flowed onto her hands. The sweaty palms stuck to the floor.
The homunculus drifted above her. The black knifes scraping metal to keep the alchemist pinned to the wall. If he moved, his seal would be broken, yet he tried with everything he had to get to Riza.
He was foolish in her eyes, but she admired his compassion. Her attention drew away from the empty armor, and to the broken woman below her. The girl had such spirit. Such beauty. Lust craved it for her own.
In the 'other's' view, Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye was a new piece of prey. She was a new desire. The lust she had was hers for the taking.
The tears were glue and her fingers were the paper. Her body was a vessel and her soul was an obstacle. Her eyes were the gates and the crest three feet above her was the Truth.
Lust's fingers retracted, but the damage had been done. Alphonse could no long move, and neither could Riza.
Black blades cut through her shoulders, keeping Riza's back to the floor, her spine arched in pain. Lust pitied the woman as she continued to weep. What an ignorant being this Lieutenant was.
With her opposite hand, the homunculus tore her stone from her body, dropping the blood-red plasma from her evaporated finger tips into the wounds of the writhing soldier.
And like a declaration of possession, a blood-curdling scream roared from the blonde, but her voice had long faded. Whispers of desires and yearnings filled the woman's ears, and no longer was there two woman, but one.
But one fact remained, just as the stone became a part of The Hawk's Eyes.
Three pairs of eyes watched her turn into a monster.
One was Riza, from her own portal.
One was Alphonse, who turned away from the horrific sights.
The last belonged to Roy Mustang, who crumbled as his loyal queen grew ominously still.