Kara sat dejectedly in the corner of her prison, her arms were wrapped around her legs and at times she found herself drifting into unconsciousness, no matter how hard she struggled to stay awake. It was only when her head jerked back that her eyes would snap open. Every fiber of her very being was tired, how long had she been here? An hour? A day? A week? The time seemed to pass slowly by, an endless torture by her standards. She sighed heavily at last and dragged herself to her feet, bent on getting out of this hellish place before it drove her mad. There was no need to sit and feel sorry for herself, she had to get to Colonal Mustang before it was to late, she had to tell everything that she knew. Kara couldn't hide the information anymore, afraid that somebody would get hurt, because it had already killed one man.
Her fingers brushed the grimy walls, searching for a weak spot so that she could escape without notice. Finding none she went directly to the vent and was thankful for her slight build. The entrance was cramped and Kara was forced to slither along on her belly, careful not to make any noise with her metal limbs. Even so, there was a constant, dull thud that made her cringe and still herself, praying that she would not be found. Her stomach growled loudly, telling her that it had been a while since her last meal, she absolutely refused to eat anything that they gave her, fearful that it was poisoned or sedated. Her arms became shaky and she was about to give up when she fell through a chute that threw her out into an alleyway. Kara slammed into the wall, only just managing to avoid injury by propelling herself off of the wall with her hands.
She landed gracefully and silently on the desolate asphalt, unsure of which way to go now, but knowing that she had to choose quickly, they would figure out that she was gone, there was no time to waste. Kara brushed herself off and ran swiftly to the left, her heart thudding in her ears as her feet moved swiftly and silently.
It wasn't long before she wandered into a street and barely managed to escape a car that had sped past, horn blaring as she dove to the side, "Watch where the hell you're going!" Kara shouted, shaking her fist at the disappearing headlights.
A string of curses could be heard from the driver as Kara continued breathlessly on her way. "Kara Takahashi!" The voice cut through her mind coldly, "The goddess of the elements?"
Kara stopped and turned to the man that stepped out of the shadows. The man had a cross shaped scar on his face and he had red eyes, "What is it?" She exclaimed, "If you can't tell, I'm kind of in a hurry..."
"It is the will of god that you perish now. I will give you a moment to pray to him." He stepped closer to her and Kara felt her heart jump to her throat.
"Excuse me!" She exclaimed, taking a shaky step back, "you can't pass judgement on me you bastard. Besides! I have to get to Central, it's urgent, can't this wait just a little while? I mean... I'd be willing to fight with you tomorrow or something, just not now!"
With those words she made an attempt to run past him, only to feel his hand tightly clasp her arm, a bright red light filled her vision and suddenly the shirt she was wearing had torn all the way down the arm. She was thankful then for her automail, "So, you too have an automail limb, just like the full metal." He replied, releasing her arm as she swung at him with her other fist.
She leapt backwards, out of the way of his approaching, glowing hand. His hand grazed her skin, and the outer flesh was disintigrated. Kara fell to the ground and bounced bakwards before rolling to her feet and wiping the blood from her lip. Her gaze only wavered as she heard Envy's voice carry to her from some distance away, "She's gone!"
"I don't have time for you, Scar." She hissed, "They'll find me if I stay, I don't have time for this!"
Her face paled as she struck the man across the face and put on a burst of speed, running down the empty street and away from both Scar and Envy. The barren street mocked her attempts at escape as her feet pounded heavily on the concrete.
Storefronts flashed by in a blur as her speed increased greatly. It wasn't long before she could recognize stores and knew that she wasn't far from the Central military base. Of course, as her thoughts wandered, she didn't see the angry man that stood before her until she heard the telltale snap of his fingers and her body was engulfed in flames.
Kara cried out, and instantly the flames had vanished from her searing skin, "M-Mustang, what're you doing?" She gasped, "It's me, Kara!"
"Kara, eh?" He spoke every word with venomous hatred.
"What's wrong?" She questioned, "Why are you attacking me?"
"You know what you did to Hughes." He spat, preparing to snap his fingers again, in hopes of burning the life out of the girl before him.
"Me?" She squeaked, "I did nothing! I tried to protect him and then-" Her words were choked off as her body was once more engulfed in the burning flames, she fell to her knees, clutching at her body, "Colonal, why?" She cried out, feeling her eyes fill with tears as sweat poured from her heated flesh.
"He told me who it was that hurt him." Mustang growled.
"He- he's alive?" Kara somehow found the energy to look at him, "Then he wasn't killed?"
"Ah, to bad for you, huh? He told us who hurt him, now, die!" Mustang's voice was dark and forboding to Kara's ears as he attacked her again.
More flames joined their brothers, although Kara's flesh would not melt or burn, the heat was stifling, slowly suffocating her. "Mustang! I -didn't do it!" She cried out, squeezing her eyes shut, "I would never have killed Hughes, ever!"
The angered man paid no heed to her pleas, she had hurt his friend and must now die. It was then that Scar chose to attack the alchemist. Mustang turned just in time to ward off the attack and Kara was left in a gasping, pain filled heap as the two battled above her. Occasionally she would catch a glimpse of fire or a red glow. Somehow she managed to pull herself precariously to her feet and tackled Scar, the two rolled down a rather steep hill, landing in a breathless heap at the bottom. "Why can't anything go right for me tonight?" She moaned, pushing him away from her as she slowly dragged herself to her feet.
"Kara, you shouldn't run away like that." Envy was leaning against a tree, both Lust and Gluttony behind him.
"Damn it!" She exclaimed, slamming her fist into the nearest thing, which, unluckily for him, turned out to be Scar.
He fairly flew through the air, and deeper into the woods as she glared at the three before her. Knowing that she had nothing to lose, Kara leapt at the three, tackling them to the earth. She felt her muscles strain as they fought back, soon she was held firmly by both Gluttony and Lust. Her hate filled eyes stared at Envy as he approached her. "Let go, damn it!" She cried struggling against their grasp, "I would never go with you! You- hurt Hughes!"
"Now-" A burst of flames interupted Envy as Mustang tore down the hill and grabbed a rather surprised Kara by the collar, leaping into the fast moving current of a river.
The two were swept downriver, Kara found herself drifting below the surface, yet she did nothing. Her muscles were exhausted and would not adhere to her wishes. She watched as the last of her precious airbubbles rushed to the surface, and a gloved hand rushed towards her face before the darkness took hold and she knew no more.
It was several hours later that she awoke, lying on the shore with a fire warming her rather numb flesh. Mustang sat some distance away, staring at the sky, "You- weren't the one that attacked Hughes?" He asked uncertainly, not daring to look at her as she rose into a sitting position.
"No." She said simply, "It was Envy- one of the humunculi. He did that to him and then kidnapped me."
"Why did he hurt Hughes?" Mustang's gaze fell on her and Kara felt herself shiver unconsciously as she stared into his now emotionless eyes.
"Because Hughes knew-" She closed her mouth quickly, "a secret that they didn't want to have revealed." She finished at last.
"What did he know?" He asked.
"Didn't Hughes tell you?" Kara looked at him curiously.
"He- has no memory of what happened." Mustang sighed and stood, "We ought to be heading back towards Central, they'll be sending out search parties if I don't get back." He paused for a moment and looked back at her, "I'm sorry for attacking you."
Kara waved it off, "Don't, you only did it because you thought it was me that hurt Hughes." She felt her muscles constrict painfully as she made to follow Mustang and cringed, "You were defending one of your dear friends, I can't hold that against you. I probably would have done the same thing in your shoes."
He, however, didn't notice her cringe as he began to push through foliage, "How long has it been?" Kara asked softly, "since that day that Hughes was found?"
"It's been nearly two weeks." Mustang said, "It was only the day before yesterday that I found you."
Kara felt her stomach growl painfully as she followed. The two walked all day and far into the night before once more they were back in civilization. The Central base loomed before the two suddenly and Mustang pushed through the front door. "Colonal!" A voice cried in relief, his gaze slipping to the pale girl behind him, "Where have you been?"
"There were some... complications." Mustang said, waving it off, "The GoE needs some medical attention." He said after a moment of silence.
"I'm fine!" Kara exclaimed as he turned once more to face her.
"Are you kidding? Have you seen yourself lately, you are definately going to see the medic right away." Mustang exclaimed.
Kara sighed in defeat and allowed herself to be led to the doctor. He scrutinized her for a while, looking at her slight figure and the wounds that she had accumulated before speaking, "It is a wonder that you are even alive." He said at last, forcing her to lay on a bed as he cleaned and stitched the wound on her stomach and applied aloe to her burns, "you are half starved, burned rather badly, suffering from fever, and your lungs are full of water."
Kara grew drowsy right about then, as he inserted a needle into a vein on her arm, "You should sleep now." His voice grew muddled as her eyes drifted shut at last, leaving her in a peaceful, dreamless sleep.
The physician then moved softly out of the room and towards Mustang's office, per prior agreement. "So?" The man asked as he walked in.
"The girl's condition is not good." He replied, going through the list of her medical woes, "It would be a wonder if she survived the night with such a high fever, the girl is truely stubborn, holding onto her life as she is."
Kara managed to pull herself out of the clawing sleep and sat up breathing heavily, coughing furiously. She noticed the water that fairly flew from her chaffed lips, and felt a relieving lightness in her chest as she lay back down, wiping her chin and grinning softly. She sighed heavily and stood, dizzily, for a moment, stretching her aching muscles. Kara shivered in the bitter cold, wishing that she had stayed under the warmth of the covers. She wandered to the sink and ran the water, sticking her face under the cool spray. Again she shivered as she stood and wiped the water from her face, sighing at the relieving cool that was left on her face. Kara yawned quietly, feeling her jaw pop as she made her way slowly back to the bed. Quickly she crawled under the covers, pulling them tightly around her freezing form before exhaustion took over once more and she drifted back down into the depths of sleep, no matter how hard she struggled, she could not resurface.
Mustang rushed into the room around midnight, there had been a loud comotion and he had been called in. He gasped in wonder as a blinding light filled his eyes, the light that originated from Kara as she slept soundly on the bed. A strange, red substance was spilt over her exposed flesh. It seemed to be melting into her body as the physician cowered below her bed, away from the raw power that escaped her body. "What happened!" Mustang shouted.
"I- I was given this substance by another doctor that said this stuff could cure anything if poured over the flesh of an alchemist." the man said, grasping a small vial tightly, when it shattered he merely stared at the streak of red that welled up and fell to the previously clean porcelaine floor that he stood on.
"This..." Mustang gasped, "Is the unfinished form of the Philosopher's stone!"
A hand fell on his shoulder and Mustang turned to see- both Ed and Al standing in the doorway, "Colonal, what's going on!" Ed exclaimed.
"We need to make this stop!" Mustang told them, "before she destroys the building!"
A/N
Well... XP I'll end this here, hope that you liked it, remember to review for me!
Chapter 4: The Black Rose
Kara is lying in her bed, when a single, black rose falls from the ceiling, unbidden. What is the significance of this rose, and why does it strike fear unto her heart? Find out next time!
Review responses:
miroku-has-darkness: Thanks! And here's the update XP
LadyRiona: hehe... the misunderstanding has been cleared. And yes, Hughes has amnesia... anyway, thanks for the review!
Tsunade-chan: I chose the name because... well, at the time for some reason I was thinking of a Kitana, and that name came to me. XP And stories are more fun when they are full of twists. Having Hughes die made me bawl... so, I had to write something where he survived. It was great to hear from you!