I woke up in my bed the next morning. Screw it. I don't even care anymore on how I even ended back in my bed. I just knew that I suddenly had my memories back, particularly the one at night when Greed had knocked me out with a move before I could even react. I quickly crashed out of bed, slipping into my clothes. "Mom, where's Father right this very instant!?" I shouted quite hysterically.
"I'm about to make my way out now to him..." the general glanced at me curiously.
"Mom, let me come with you."
"You have studies to attend to, Elsa." Then she stared at me a little longer. I could only imagine how I looked. I could feel the sweat turning cold against my whole body, and adrenaline shook me to the very core. The general finally nodded. "I hope you're not just going to wear that when you go to his office," she finally decided, gabbing her military jacket.
I didn't even try to complain. Through the whole car ride, my body was ready to just burst out of the car and dash over to the headquarters myself. The information was much too important. For God's sake, Father was seeing the PRINCESS of Drachma who was in association with a HOMUNCULUS named Greed. Father's very life was in danger by being with this young beautiful gorgeous woman.
The general gripped my shoulder tightly as she straightly made her way to Father's office without any signs of new news. Father glanced up from his mountain of paperwork. The general saluted. "Here reporting for duty, your excellency."
Father's eyes narrowed when he noticed I was standing next to her. He nodded, standing up himself. "At ease." then waved the usual guards away, closing the door. "Elsa, what is it?"
That question was a trigger. The information just came bursting out of my mouth like a bomb waiting to be detonated. "I remember now! I did see Desiree Martin outside of Anna's jewelry store, and she was talking to that stalker whom she called Greed! But the reason why that I didn't seem to know any of the right answers to your questions the next day was because that very night Greed actually came to my room and knocked me out and did something to my memories because then I was remembering all these weird reflection things that don't match what I actually remember and then I sort of snuck out of my room last night and met up with Greed again and then the real memories started to come back and Greed was talking about how I was greedy or something and then revealed to me that he was actually a homunculus and that means that the princess of Drachma is in association with a homunculus that pretty much brought hell on earth on Amestris back then so you gotta stop seeing her!"
Breathless. I finally understood what it meant to actually be breathless. And then that creeping feeling that I actually said something extra that I shouldn't have..."You. SNUCK. Out of your room," the general repeated in verification.
Damn...
Father sat back down.
I timidly glanced up into furious eyes of the general. "Well it came with a good outcome after all...?" I smiled.
"You SNUCK out of your room!? You were staying with me so you'd stay OUT of trouble and OUT of harm's way but you just come WALTZING right into it just like your father once did when he left his post! ARE YOU STUPID OR JUST DELIBERATELY DISOBEDIENT OR BOTH!?"
In cases like these and your mother is quite lethal with a gun, you learn to simply nod and agree that she's always correct. Father rubbed his head at the mention of his infamous post leaving that his team still sometimes mocked him over. When he noticed the general's wrath passing over, he glanced back up. "So...we know that she indeed knows that the homunculi's name is Greed. However, we cannot assume that the princess actually knows she's in association with a homunculus."
"Father, I never thought I'd have to call you stupid. But...his freaking name is Greed. How do you NOT know you're dealing with a weirdo?"
"A weirdo does NOT equal to a homunculus, Elsa. The political matters with Drachma right now is finalizing to become peaceful. It would be stupid to ruin it completely not to mention completely detrimental to the country, especially the towns and cities on the northern border." He thoughtfully crossed his hands, closing his eyes. "That being said, that doesn't mean I won't be looking into the matter. General."
The general straightened herself.
"Gather the staff. We need to work something out."
Even though I knew it would be suicide to sneak out during the day again...I still snuck out. Not to mention I was going to retrieve something that both the general and Father will kill me, revive me, and kill me again. "Hey Anna," I grinned, waltzing my way to the register, "Got something for me?"
She smirked, taking out a small wrapped box. "After you give me what I need."
Quickly, I dropped the coins onto the table. Her eyes gleamed of eagerness at the coins and quickly swiped the coins away into her sticky hand. "Alright, this should work for you. That is if you actually did master the flame alchemy that you claimed to have." She slid the box over. I greedily grasped it into my hand, untying the knot around it and threw the lid aside (much to Anna's chagrin).
The charm.
My fingers felt the delicate thing carefully. I had long memorized the lines, the way that certain ones sloped at a degree in comparison to the horizontal lines. And the salamander. It felt like some kind of ritual, hooking the charm onto my bracelet. The flame alchemy that was kept from me for so long was finally in my grasp. "Hey," Anna whispered, "Who's that hunk grinning at you through the window?"
I whirled around, coming face to face with the devil's grin. He waved casually and stuck his hands into his pockets, walking away. Confidence radiating from me like the flames of a fire, I gripped the charm in my hand. "Don't worry. I'll handle him."
