14.
Dear Riza,
I still seem to be reeling, but I don't know where this is coming from. Am I still unsettled from the mirror incident a few days ago? I didn't think I was, but the disturbing things are coming from all sides now.
I pulled out my gloves at last, yesterday. It's been eight months since I arrived here, after all, and I'd been recovering for several weeks even before I left Central. You'd think I'd be able to start using alchemy again by now.
I still don't seem to have the knack for getting a fire going and making it last. (The irony continues to amuse me.) The brief summer is long gone, and the nights are very chilly again. I'm tired of being cold most of the time, so I decided to start small, and set the wood burning properly for a change. Just a simple thing, right?
I stood in front of the fireplace, with my hand up, ready to snap – and images began to flash in front of my eyes. Images of Ishbal, and flames, and explosions, and burning and charred bodies lying everywhere, by the thousands. They literally seemed to pour into my mind.
There was nothing there. But my eye was seeing it all. My missing eye.
I had to rip off the glove; in fact, I threw it across the room. Everything stopped when I did that.
I guess...I'm not ready to use alchemy again just yet.
And now I'm jumpy. Maes didn't show up for an hour after that, but when he spoke to me, my whole body jerked and my heart started pounding. I don't know if I'll sleep tonight. It might be better if I don't, because I'm afraid I'll see those images again in my dreams.