It was a bright and sunny day out. The kind of day when all you want to do is cook something on the grill, lay back, and enjoy summer. The ice-cream vendor was out selling his wares; competing, no doubt, with the hot-dog vendor across the street. Children chased each other with water, sand, rocks, toys, and mud quite possibly made from a combination of dog poo and aforementioned water.
Over in the wooded, shade-covered area sat a girl who looked to be about 13. She was reading a fairly large novel with massive-eared headphones that no doubt blasted music into her ears. Nothing would be strange about this, though, if it weren't for the fact that no one else was there enjoying the shade, talking, playing, running, or conversing with the girl.
If anyone at all had taken notice of her at all, in fact, she would have been surprised. Only two people in all Amestris would look hard enough for that. In fact, if one had inspected her closely, one would have made a shocking discovery; she was transparent. Her short, bob-cut brown hair billowed in the soft breeze, adding accent to her transparency by blowing over a patch of green tree and thereby turning her air a strange mix between vomit and mossy bark. Her skin was pale, and her clothes (a dress that touched over her ankles when she stood straight), were pitch black, though as translucent as her body was. In fact, the only thing that wasn't transparent were her eyes.
Her eyes were a rich hazelnut hazel, and seemed to pierce your soul with unyielding clarity and kindness that no one knew for sure how she found. Her eyes were so bold, in fact, that they seemed to make the rest of her less transparent. If she looked you in the eyes directly, she would seem no more transparent than any other human.
Thus, the difficulty of a young solder in the military, a temporary intern while he was paying off some debts, can be fully understood. "Rei! Rei! Where are you?" He shouted, walking through the park. The girl, Rei, sighed and walked up behind the man and whispered softly in his ear, "I'm right here, sir. There's no need to yell." Of course, the man did yell, one last time. She had ghosted up so quietly that he hadn't even heard her approach. Now looking her dead in the eye, he wondered how he could have missed her.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts and saluted. "Rei collier, the evanescent alchemist, you are to report immediately to the colonel." Her eyes narrowed into bright slits. "Roy mustang, the flame alchemist?" She queried, her voice barely a whisper. The man nodded and turned. "Thank you," She whispered as he left. He nodded and continued on his way, slightly happy to be away from such a paranormal, ghostly girl.
Rei smiled to herself as the man walked away. These people got worked up by the simplest of things. Was it truly her fault if the man hadn't heard her coming? Was she wrong in insisting on silence? No, it was simply because all fear what they cannot come to terms with, what they refuse to accept. She looked across the street to where the large building that was the central military base stood. Sighing, she glided swiftly towards the building, making eye contact with everyone that passed, so they knew. It felt good, sometimes, being invisible, transparent, and ghostly. But usually it was a pain in the ass, like when you needed someone to talk to that you didn't have to look dead at throughout the conversation.
Rei followed her nose to where the colonel was. He always smelt like charcoal, which was different from havoc because he smelled like nicotine. She veered right and walked into his office. Looking around, she noticed the Fullmetal alchemist sitting in a chair across from Roy. The vertically challenged alchemist and his brother turned to the now-open door. "Hey, how'd the door blow open? Did you forget to shut it all the way?" The ever-increasingly annoying blonde shrimp asked Roy. The flame alchemist nodded his head thoughtfully. "Ahh, so you can't see her unless she looks at you, eh?" He inquired.
Edward looked up at his superior like he was insane. "Who? Roy, there's no one there!" He growled. "If this is another lame joke…" Rei snuck up behind him and put her mouth next to his ear. "Boo," She whispered lightly. He yelped and whirled around to face her. Rei made sure to look him in the eyes this time. "Edward, this is Rei collier, the Evanescent alchemist. Rei, I would like you to meet the Fullmetal alchemist, Edward Elric." Roy said, looking between them. She bowed politely. "Nice to meet you. I've heard an awful lot about you from Mustang-san." Ed looked at her. "Are you from the east?" He asked, somewhat conversational, but mostly analytical. She smiled. "In a way, yes."
The younger brother looked at her. "Why couldn't we see you before?" He asked. Rei shook slightly in something between a sob and a laugh. "That is a story for an even brighter day than this, especially in the wake of pessimistic visions of the morrow." She said. "So, Roy, What's my new assignment? You never call me here unless I have important business. Though, I must admit, very sloppy performance on sending someone to get me." The translucent girl looked at the Flame Alchemist, her hazelnut orbs boring into his coal black eyes. He held back a flinch. I've never quite gotten used to those eyes. The Fuher made the right decision in choose her for the experimentation, but I just can't get over what we destroyed. Not that I knew her much before, anyway.
He cleared his throat uncomfortably and spoke, "Edward and Alphonse, you two are to be accompanied by her—""What? You expect us to carry around a lump like this to find out who this father is? The Homunculi will tear her to shreds! She'll—"This time, it was Rei, surprisingly, who butted in. "If you're so doubtful of me, then it's no wonder you didn't see me. It's very hard to attack something with little to no substance. While you're right that they quite possibly could tear me to shreds, it would be them who would be sorry." Edward didn't even bat an eye. In fact, he glared head-on, facing her directly in the eyes. "You're not even fully human! No, Roy. Not with her. She's more likely to join them, by the looks of her."
She did, in fact, look very angry. She glanced briefly at Roy, who was torn between finding the truth and pleasing the Alchemist. Without one more word, she disappeared from sight, fading out of view. "You've just made more of a mess for yourself," She hissed into the elder Elric's ear before departing through the still-ajar door, leaving behind a cold sense of spite. Roy groaned. "Edward, you idiot! What have you done?"