All through the night El tossed and turned. She muttered, cried, and kicked in her sleep. The nightmares had decided to show up again, they'd taken a break from their torture for about a month, but now they showed their ugly teeth once more. The theme was always the same, sure a few differences here and there but it always revolved around one thing. Human transmutation. As if the universe wanted to tell her that she would never atone for her sins, that she would always be cursed. This evil thing she did would forever brand her like an unsightly scar. The dreams were horrible, disfigured humanoid monsters erupting from transmutation circles all of them screaming at her, then dragging her down into the circle and into the abyss. Each time she kept going under, drowning in the guilt and shame of her past.
"N..No.." She whimpered in her sleep, trapped in the void of her own mind. "A..Alphonse..."
Her brother towered over her as she was crippled on the rain-soaked ground below her. A look of disgust and disappointment on his young features. They were both their younger selves, the same age they were the night it all happened. In his hand he held the head of the suit of armor she'd tried to preserve his soul inside. For a few moments he'd woken up in the suit, bonded with its armor plates, but it soon faded and he was lost to eternity. His expression became blank now as he turned away from her, without a word he left.
"Alphonse!" She cried within her dream. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I tried! Please..." Her voice weakened as she began to sob, her tears landed in small plips on her still present hand which supported her on the ground. "Please, don't go.."
Then the worst part, as he left, she watched as her mother appeared from the shadows and took his hand. Trisha glanced back at her as if she'd never known her daughter, like she was a complete stranger and one with no value to her. Together her only remaining family left through the rain and walked on into darkness before disappearing. Leaving Ellie alone in the dark, sitting in her own puddles of blood.
"Mom!" The child wailed and plunged into hiccups from her sobs. A gurgling growl crept up behind her, and as she looked she saw the beast who'd appeared during their attempt to bring their mother back. The monster reached for her, arms steaming and dripping a black substance. "No! NO! Let go! It wasn't supposed to be you! No!"
While she screamed violently for her life, the creature grabbed ahold of her remaining leg and began to drag her further into the night through the dirt and mud. Clawing at the ground in desperation Ellie was taken away. Her blood mixing with the rainwater and muck. The creature turned to look at her and opened its mouth as if to consume her and she screamed.
"AHH NO!" She called out and erupted from her blankets, finding her legs tangled up in top sheet. Breathing heavily, she coughed and whimpered as she forced herself out of the bed and onto her feet which proved unstable. With a loud thud she fell to the floor, knocking over the chair to her desk. Weakly the young alchemist pulled herself far enough to lean against the wall, pulling her knees up to her chest. With deadly tight grip her clammy left hand latched onto her shirt, as if to try and help her breathe.
The door to her apartment opened with a light clatter, and her guard rushed in. Havoc quickly searched for her, having heard her scream bloody murder he was sure something horrible had happened. As he rounded the corner to her room he saw her leaned up against the wall where it met the floor. Tears streaming down her cheeks and whimpering quietly to herself. Slowly he knelt down, visually checking her for any injuries, which he didn't find.
"Hey, you okay kid?" He asked gently in a soft voice. With only the glow from the street lamps outside lighting her room, she panicked. She hadn't noticed him come in while she was recovering from the horror of the dream she'd just survived. In an instant that he didn't have time to react to, she screamed out again and lifted her automail foot, sending it into his chest as hard as she could. The man grunted and was launched backwards, smashing his back and head on the desk beside her bed.
"It was an accident! I just wanted her back!" The young girl bellowed and stood to her feet, picking up the lamp that was knocked over and preparing to smash him in the head with its iron base.
"Kid! Kid it's me!" He shouted and raised his hands to defend himself. Just as she swung her arm, he lept up, taking hold of the lamp and throwing it aside while simultaneously tackling her to the ground. He wasn't sure why she was panicking but he knew he needed to get her to calm down before she got them both seriously hurt. At being pinned to the floor, the images from her nightmare came to the front of her mind and she struggled harder than ever before to get away.
"No! No! No! Please!"
"Shit.." He cursed and let go of her, dashing over to the opposite side of the room and slamming his hand against the light switch, flipping it up. Like a sudden plunge into ice cold water, the light flooded their senses, jolting Eloise from her confusion. She breathed hard and brought her hand up to protect it from the intense contrast, falling back against the wall once again. The two of them stayed quiet for a time, one another sort of just grounding themselves and being sure that things were safe now.
Finding that she wasn't planning on attacking him he stepped into the living room and called for backup.
"Eloise?" He asked in a low voice when he went back to her room. She was still sitting against the wall, but refused to talk to him. "Are you alright?"
Nothing. Other than the occasional sound of her sniffling, but when he looked closer he saw that she was trembling.
"Was..was it a bad dream?" He continued. Still nothing. "You don't have to be embarrassed if it was, I'm here to listen."
Silence.
At that moment Roy rushed in, out of breath and a bit disheveled. Seeing Havoc quietly standing in the doorway of the girl's room, he became a little confused.
"You said there was an emergency..?" The Colonel asked a bit unsure. He stood near his friend and looked over to the young woman who's tiny frame huddled against the wall near a corner.
"Come talk with me.." Havoc instructed and the two went out into the front room, where everything was explained to Roy.
"You guys gonna leave anytime soon so I can go back to sleep?" El asked from behind them after emerging from her room. "I'm fine. Please go, its three in the morning."
"Now hold on just a minute." Roy said gently and considered if there was anything he should do.
"I really would rather not. Please go." She asked again, this time with a little more attitude.
Roy raised a brow and gave her a look that disapproved of whatever she was doing. "I said to wait a minute. As far as I've heard you weren't fine just before I got here and I would like to talk about it."
"Well I don't." She retorted and glared heavily. The tear stains on her face were still visible and her eyes and nose were a puffy, swollen pink color.
"Easy." Havoc reassured and tried to approach her to rest a soothing hand on her shoulder but she just growled.
"I said LEAVE!" The girl shouted, adding quite a bit more tension in the already turbulent energy of the room. At that moment Roy sighed and raised a gloved hand as if to snap, immediately El blinked a few times and just looked away with a glare in what appeared to be submission.
"We only want to help. If you need us, you know where to look. Let's go." Roy spoke and gestured for Havoc to follow him, leading him back to his post. The two of them walked out and closed the door, locking it behind them.
"Sir, she was violent. I don't think she was fully awake. I can't explain fully how intense it all was."
Roy just nodded and looked to the floor as if searching for answers. "Keep an eye on her Jean."
His subordinate nodded and watched the man walk away, a more serious tone in his step.
The next morning was chaos. Alarms going off in every direction possible, soldiers rushing up and down the halls, and why? Because the young Scarlett was missing. Early that morning Breda had come to take shift guarding her door, and when they went inside to check they found she'd managed to take the bars off of her window. No one could figure out how, not even the guy who'd put them there.
"She's dead when I find her!" Mustang shouted and slammed a fist down onto his desk. "Uhggg...that girl just doesn't learn."
A faint, airy laughter sang out beside him and he looked over to see Riza. She was smiling amusedly, stacking some papers and putting paper clips on their edges.
"You know sir, if I could speak freely, you should have expected something like this. She's called the Red Phantom after all. Hmhm."
"Well I'm glad you're enjoying yourself." He snipped and turned to look out the window. The woman just sighed and rested a hand on his shoulder.
"We'll find her. She can't get far without the use of her alchemy."
The colonel combed a weary hand through his soot black hair and nodded ever so slightly.
In the city, Eloise was quite enjoying herself. Despite her inability to use alchemy, she was causing more than enough trouble.
"Thank you!" She chimed in as she held a lollipop in one hand and a new pair of black boots in the other. She hadn't spent that much, just enough to enjoy her morning. So far she'd bought a roughly twenty-five dollar breakfast at one of the cafe's, visited a fortune teller who promised wealth and prosperity then made off with seventeen more dollars, and a lollipop. Not a bad way to spend the sunrise,even though it was quite chilly out. How had she paid for it all you might wonder? Well, anyone carrying a state Alchemists pocket watch could technically run the bill to the government, it didn't matter if it was hers or not, and that's exactly what she did.
Finally satisfied, the young con made her way across the city towards headquarters. She was sure she would get an earful from Mustang, but it was worth it. Those doughnuts that came with her breakfast had been to die for. Forty minutes or so went by before she found herself on the steps of the building, though she saw people rushing about she wasn't sure why. No one really seemed to recognize her. That was when she realized she'd forgotten her infamous red coat. She literally never took it off, except for when she slept. Could it be that the people who hadn't officially met her yet just didn't know it was her? She found this highly entertaining. Still nomming on her candy, she walked casually in through the large doors. The energy in here was tense, that was for sure.
"That doesn't make sense. They were bolted from here and here." Roy explained frustratedly as he jabbed his finger down onto a diagram of the window in his little criminal's room. He and the architect were discussing possible ways she could have possibly escaped.
Ellie walked casually in through the open door and waited a time before speaking. They didn't even notice her walk in, she could have stood there all day for all she knew, so she made her way up behind them and peeked between their figures to see what they were looking at.
"Maybe she found a way to-..no, that doesn't add up either."
"That's because I didn't break anything, all hardware is created a certain way and can always be taken apart if you know how to do it." Ellie informed and again stuck the colorful lollipop into her mouth. Like a venomous snake ready to strike, Roy twisted around on his heal and looked down at her with a look of complete disbelief.
"Eloise! How long have you been here!?" The man exploded, she actually startled under his tone and took a step back. She didn't expect him to be this angry, she came back right? He should be happy for goodness sake. Feeling that she was way too close for comfort she made to run, but a grip like steel clutched onto her collar. "Not so fast kid."
"Hand it over." Roy growled like a demon. He held out a calloused hand and kept a firm grip on her with the other.
"I dont know what you mean!"
"Don't play dumb! So help me I will lock you in solitary confinement for a month! Hand it over or I'm handing you over to cell 73B!"
She remembered the cold prison cell she'd been held in and it pissed her off that he was threatening her, but she hated the idea of going behind bars even more. Reluctantly she reached into her pants pocket and pulled out the man's state watch. Like a viper he snatched it out of her hand and shoved it back into his jacket pocket. He had no idea when she'd lifted it off of him, truly a phantom she was, a ghost. Perhaps that would be her new pet name.
"Now where the hell did you go?" His tone ice cold.
"Let go! Come on I came back didn't I?" She protested.
"Came back!? You weren't permitted to leave your room let alone the building!" He countered right back, but his voice was much louder than hers. "Damn it, you just want to be locked up for life don't you." He scolded and refused to let go, causing her to be trapped right next to him, painfully close.
"Do it! I don't care." Ellie growled back and tried to escape.
"No! You would be winning if I did that. No..." He sighed and looked away from her to think. "You're acting like a child. Isn't your situation serious to you? You realize you will probably be in police custody of some kind or another for the rest of your life right? You think I want to babysit you for that long!?"
"Piss off! I just want to have a little fun!"
"You don't get to have fun you should be in prison!"
"Gaaahh!" She complained and tried to get away before finally giving up and just standing there with the king of pouts plastered on her young features. "So what're you gonna do Colonel? Stick me in handcuffs? You know I can get out of anything right?"
"Heh, not everything." The man smirked and gave an extra tug on the collar around her neck, causing Ellie to curse under her breath. "Alright." He said more or less to himself as he all but dragged the girl across the room and then turned her to face him. "As crazy as this may sound, you're gonna stand here in this corner until I say otherwise so I can keep an eye on you. I have too much to do right now to worry about you causing trouble."
The girl at first stared at him wide-eyed with a look of complete confusion, her golden eyes shimmering with what was almost anger. Was he insulting her?
"You're joking right?" She laughed and searched for any hint that he was just pulling her leg. Though sure as hell, he pulled her closer to the wall and then spun her around and stuffed her nose into the corner. The angle smelled of dust and for some reason felt just a little cooler than the rest of the room. Of course, she refused.
"Are you an idiot!? I'm twenty-four years old! You can't make me stand here like some brat!"
At this Roy actually laughed, his voice booming throughout the room, hit a soft spot had he? With ease, the man took a hold of her collar once again and spun her around to face the wall. "Actually yes I can and I expect you to stand there like the brat you are."
"That's it, I'm leaving. Send me to prison." She grumbled and turned around yet another time, moving to make a run for it but just couldn't manage to get his hand off her anti-alchemic collar.
"Nope."
"Let go!"
For about ten minutes the young alchemist fought, though no matter what she did, having her throat anchored like that prevented her from posing any real threat and only made her sore. Like a misbehaved dog, she finally gave up. Breathing heavily and feeling more than embarrassed as she was for a final time turned into the corner.
"Good." The man said and then moved back to his desk to finish a report and set the blueprints for her new windows aside. Of course, he didn't expect her to give in so easily. With that thought, he looked up just in time to see her split and run like lightning towards the door. Despite her being quite short, she was quick. Without a second to waste, the soldier raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. Large and violent sparks exploded in the doorway, preventing the thief from escaping. Angrily she turned to her captor.
"Are you kidding me?! You could have killed me!"
The man snorted. "Don't be ridiculous. Now go." He ordered as he pointed back towards the wall where he'd originally put her.
"Look, adult to adult, this is ridiculous." El began and glared hard at him. "I'm not doing it. I deserve better treatment, this is...this is.." She paused for just a hair of a second. "This is harassment!" Before she could complain any more, sparks began to erupt closer and closer to her, forcing her to walk backward. "Mustang!" She shouted and grit her teeth in annoyance, at one point she challenged him and simply stopped moving, but this only ended up getting her hurt. Like a flaming hot slap to the face, he'd snapped off a smaller one and made just about direct contact, letting her know he was serious. She'd cringed and rubbed her face where she was sore and had a smear of what appeared to be soot on her right cheek.
"Tch!"
For another fifteen minutes she tried and failed to fight him and escape the room, but each time she was mildly burned in some area of her body. Run, dodge, jump, attack, complain, it alternated back and forth and a few times she'd come pretty close to succeeding but he was always one step ahead of her. Roy watched diligently as he stood near his desk and expected her to make a run for it again, but to his surprise and relief, she made no such move. Instead, she wiped some of the soot from her face and stood still. Catching her breath as her chest rose and fell in a steady, fast rhythm. Exhaustion drove her arms and legs to the brink of numbness, she felt like she'd just run a marathon. What irritated her the most, was that the man had done it all without even breaking a sweat. He just snapped his fingers and made her dance, that was all. The two stood quietly in the room for a few minutes, each slowly calculating what was going to happen next. When Ellie decided to move again, the Colonel prepared himself to counter her, but he simply watched as she glared at him like she'd lost the battle of a lifetime. Annoyed and drained of energy, the young alchemist let her gaze wander away from his, and sauntered back over to the wall where she found refuge and leaned her forehead against its cool surface.
This caught the man off guard, had he actually won? Did she actually give in this time or was it all just a ruse to get a leg in the door again? He waited a moment or so, analyzing her stature, her energy. Once he was sure she wasn't going to try again, he made his way calmly back over to his desk. He'd certainly lost some valuable time with his work, but perhaps it was worth it. The famous Scarlet had accepted his terms, and stood silently in a corner like a punished child. Even though it did seem a little strange to see a twenty-four year old person in this situation, it seemed to fit. Everyone had thought she was only maybe seventeen or eighteen, plus she was short and had a bit of a baby face. All in all, she did seem like a kid to everyone who met her, and her behavior didn't help. Deciding to close his mind to his wandering thoughts he forced himself back to work.
Half an hour later
"Mustang..."
"Quiet."
"Mustang.." She said again, this time turning away from the corner. The man glanced up at her and raised a brow.
"Face the wall."
"I've been here long enough! This is embarrassing!"
"Good. Maybe you'll learn something." The man responded, she hated it when he said that. "Now turn around."
After she refused again she glanced over to the door, thoughts of making it out filling her mind space.
"Don't try it kid." The man warned. Her determined expression faltered, this simply wasn't fair.
A low demonic growl emanated from her throat as she sent dark vibes in his direction.
"You better not catch me with this collar off Colonel." It was her own warning, it was true she could be quite dangerous with her alchemy. Roy recalled a time where he'd witnessed her level an entire building full of people while in a rage. Incredibly no one had died during the attack, but it was made clear that she was capable of putting life to the side if she felt the situation called for it.
El couldn't comprehend how one man was holding her captive and subjecting her to such a childish punishment. She was the great Scarlet. The Phantom who terrorized city after city, the anarchist who refused to live for anything but adventure. Feeling overwhelmed with resentment, she turned back around, noting that her back was beginning to ache and her feet were about as unhappy as she was. Finding that he was seemingly making headway, Roy sat down and finished the last twenty minutes or so of his paperwork.
Once finished he placed the paperclipped sheets into a large envelope and addressed it, then picked it up and made his way across the room.
"Alright come on, I've got to drop this off." The man instructed. With an embarrassed blush the girl walked quietly away from the pride murdering, dingy smelling corner and took her place next to the Colonel. Though she listened, she refused to make eye contact. Period. Roy just scoffed with a hint of a smile and debated tousling her hair, but figured that would probably throw her over the edge.
Without a single utterance the duo made their way out of his office.
