As I am trying to figure out how to defend myself and disable the Ishvalan; I remember that I am actually falling straight to the ground. I hold out my hand to brace myself and I hit the ground. Crack! I hear it in my legs. My legs just broke. Great! I put my hands on my legs and focused- purple static erupts and they are healed. I look up. I see the Ishvalan man more clearly- he has a large X shaped scar across his face. Is he the one they are calling Scar? He looks down at me and jumps. He uses his right hand to carve into the building to support himself as he falling. Blue static erupts from his hand driving into the building and destroying its face. He can do alchemy without a transmutation circle? Is he like me- or is it a cheap glove trick like Mustang?
I don't wait for him to catch up with me. I start running; only to realize that I am barefoot. While running I breathe in, close my eyes, and image shoes- boots to be exact- around my feet. I open and they are there. Luxuries of being who I am and seeing what I have seen; I don't need a circle, I don't even need to bother with the laws of equivalent exchange. But I don't flaunt this around lest I be discovered. My speed is picking up, but being a curvy plump kind of girl- I am not really running that fast. Undoubtedly, Scar will catch up to me and kill me. I had better stand my ground once I get to a less populated area.
I am running for what seem ages, but after I realize that I have only managed a few blocks...I know it has been only a few minutes. I can hear his steps catching up to mine. I haven't studied or trained in combat for ages; so I wouldn't dare try to take him on physically. I finally reach an abandoned building and it is next to a prison so if I can subdue him here; the authorities only need to restrain him for a bit before they lock him up.
I turn to face the red-eyed man. I see that his breathing is light compared to mine. He stops when I stop and it begins to rain. I only notice because his yellow jacket looks quite child-like and innocent being rained on. He removes his glasses and looks at me.
"I know you are too young to have been in the Ishval Civil Wars, but you state alchemists are all the same!" he spits at me.
"You don't know anything about me. I am not too young at all. Looks can be deceiving. I have been to Ishval. Some of my closest friends were Ishvalans." I profess.
"Liar! All of you are liars!" He screams.
"I am not a liar. I wonder, why do you practice alchemy if it is a perversion to your religion?" I ask calmly.
"I perform alchemy to fight fire with fire. It is the only way you can kill demons like you." He offers.
"Fire, you say? Demons? I am afraid you don't know me at all." I say.
"Well, all that matters is that you die!" he yells as he begins to charge towards me with his right arm pulled back as if charging and blue electric energy ripples from it.
I can smell his hatred and taste his lust for killing. He charges at me and cracks a small smile when he almost has me. But I simply move. Unbeknownst to him, I can actually move faster than a human. But it is not moving, it is a sort of teleportation. I having seen Truth and understanding its essence within nature, space, and time- I am able to bend its rules as long as I do not set the world out of order. Scar stumbles a bit and I can barely see his reaction between the flow of my curly hair. Eventually his eyes met mine and I here him sigh "How?" in disbelief.
However, although I escaped his initial attack. I found myself a bit queasy from my movement technique. I haven't had to use it in forever. He charged at me again. As he lunged at me, I knew I couldn't miss his attack again. So my choices were to see how much damage I would take; or simply try to dodge it on my own speed. Quick! Think! Which one?!
I move slightly out of the way missing his hand's attack my millimeters However when I moved, the slick cobbled street below caused me to slip slightly. Out of habit, I reached for the nearest thing to gain my balance. The nearest thing was Scar's tattooed arm. The moment I touched him; I felt both his weight and mine buckle under us.
I usually wear gloves, but Scar had caught me sleeping. I had forgotten my gloves and I had forgotten to create some. Touching can be tricky for me. Well, if I am not prepared and I touch someone or they touch me. It creates a bond. I can see into their minds for a few seconds, and if I am caught off guard- they can see into mine. I only catch glimpses.
I see within Scar: An alchemist on a building. Someone with glasses in front of me. My loved one's around. That's right. I always forget that I am the person from their perspective. I know I am around family. The man with the tattooed arms is my brother. Wait! Tattooed arms? How did- I don't have the chance to stay and absorb in the moment. Next, I find myself on the ground dying. My arm gone and my brother above me. Darkness. A flash of light. I am young boy being trained as an Ishvalan Monk. So that explains his skill. The last flash is coming; I can feel it. It is of me and him fighting. I sense his fear and intrigue within him. He is concerned for me, but at the same time the hatred, rage, and vengeance are so thick I feel as if I am choking on its atmosphere.
I awake to find myself on the ground next to Scar, who seems to be coming to as well.
"What the hell did you do to me? What was that I was seeing? Is that your Alchemy?" he says breathing harder than before.
I stand up and gain my composure as best as I can. I feel the cold sprinkles of rain hit my body. I taste metal in my mouth- Boy, I must have hit the ground hard.
"I didn't do anything. But you should stop this vengeance. Your brother would not wish it. He did not wish for you to die; This is NOT why he gave you his arm!" I say without looking up from the ground.
My long dark wavy hair now soaked and covering my face. There is a long pause. He does not respond. I decide to look up. I see Scar for the first time express some sort of emotion. He seems to be bother furious and on the verge of tears.
"How- How did you know? Are you a witch? Is that what I saw- your memories?" he asks.
"I-I-" I begin.
"What the hell was that door! What were their hands!" he screams. "How did you leave such a thing alive?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you" I say.
"Try me!" he brags.
"I don't know, Ishvalan. Weren't you just trying to kill me? Now you want to talk? I don't know if I buy what you're selling." I state candidly.
"Well if you won't tell me; I will make you tell me!" he says and begins to get up from crouching on the ground.
"I thought Monks were not suppose to kill unless for their home, family, or god were threatened?" I say hoping to unnerve him.
"Oh, you saw that too. Well then you know that my training has made me as strong as ten men!" he yells and begins to charge with his hand pulsing with destructive alchemy.
Not this again. How is it that he can still perform alchemy, charge it, and sprint- but I feel too weak to run.
From my left, I hear "Al! That's Scar, trap him, now!" But from my right I see a huge man in armor slap his hands to the ground and create a moving hand of the cement in attempts to trap Scar. Scar easily dodges it and comes for me. I can see that I have two other lives at steak. From the looks of it, an armored man and from afar a short boy. What to do? They will not be able to stop Scar. I have invaded his privacy and rejected his questions. I have made this more personal than it needed to be. I have no choice I need to attack.
Scar runs faster than any of us can anticipates and jumps over the short blonde boy and lands in front of me.
"You won't run?" he asks
"Why? I can never defeat you if I run." I offer. As I speak I hope that the other two can't see my actions, but I create from nothing a Ishvalan ceremonial knife. Since, he hasn't detected my weapon yet; he thrusts his hand back charging it with destructive energy and throws it at my throat and collarbone. It hits. It is not a lethal kill. He missed all the main arteries; Is this because he still wants to talk?
The pain is unreal. I haven't felt like this in ages. I look down and see his hand shaking against the arc of my neck- well what use to be my neck. There is nothing but blood, torn muscle and bone. It smells like roasted flesh. I look him in the eyes and say:
"You are a fool. Would your people wish you to do this? To pervert their religion and ways for the sake of their lives? Remember Monk, you have made a promise to Ishval. If I thought the promises of Ishvalans were so-" I begin to cough on my words. I smile, sigh, and lean on him for support: "Not much time for long speeches. I will remember this wound and why you did it, but you have to promise me you will do the same!" I say as I thrust the Ishvalan dagger into his shoulder. He yells. I cannot tell if it is from surprise, pain, or the fact I did it with a weapon of his people and religion. He lets go of me and pulls out the dagger and stares at it. He appears in shock. He looks behind him to see the two figures starting to run our way. I begin to fall to the ground "Hurt's like a bitch-doesn't it?" I say effortlessly. He merely stares at me and runs.
The metal armored man runs after him; while the small boy comes to me. My head hits the pavement before he reaches me. The blonde boy attempts to dive in, but he is clumsy. My head knocks so hard it forces my mouth to close and I bite my tongue hard. He leans next to me and he is talking to me, but I can't hear him. The pain is too much. I look at him and I realize he is not a boy. He is a man. Well a young man. He must simply be short for his age- poor guy. His eyes seem to tear up, and I can't help but feel responsible for this reaction. I attempt to comfort him:
"Don't cry. I won't die. I can't die. There is so much more to-" I start. He shushes me and takes his red jacket off and lays it over me, because while I have forgotten this young man knows a woman should never been seen so immodestly in public. I tell him and point: "Go call for help, there's a phone-." He nods and begins to run.
I can hear my heart slowing. I don't have enough energy to heal myself like I did with my legs. Then I hear a loud chime. I tilt my head above me stretching it to see the origin of the chime. It is midnight and Central's clock is chiming merrily. Two hours till Mustang's meeting. God, I hope I can make it. Sigh.Come on body hurry up and just die! I wait a moment. Fine. I concentrate focusing all my energy into my right hand and command the energy inside me-whatever is left to heal. HEAL! DAMNIT! Two weak flashes of lavender sparks and I feel a bit better. My arm is healed. But, I feel exhausted. I am gonna have to sleep for at least three days after today.
I get up slowly and realize that if that young man comes back; I will have too much to explain. What to do? I can't walk or do anymore Alchemy in this state. I notice a flowerbed nearby. That will work. I walk hurriedly to the flowerbed and begin eat the tulips that are in season. A pink one, a red one, a yellow, two white ones. I haven't had to resort to this in ages. After eating the flowers, I feel as if Mother Nature herself had granted me energy. I hurried transmute the boy's coat into a dress and put it on. I transmute my boots into heels. And then I create on myself a hat, stockings, new hair-style, makeup and jewelry. Hopefully this is enough of a change that no one will recognize me. I continue walking down a different block until I come into a bar. When I walk in I see the blonde young man, he is on the phone racing to tell someone "in command" about me: "I don't know if she is a State Alchemist, sir! She didn't exactly have a name tag on!" he yells into the phone. "No, she wasn't wearing her uniform. She had on her her nightgown on." he whispers. "Just hurry up and come already! Scar is getting away and I don't know how long Al can hold him." he ends with banging the receiver down. Then, he thanks the bartender and walks right past me without noticing who I am. He bumps into me, and looks my way saying "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it." I say, but he has already ran out the door.
I walk up to the owner and ask for a milkshake. He gives me a weird look, but my body needs the glucose to help repair. He nods. "Who was that kid?" I asked. "Hmm. Oh, the blonde fellow?" he continues to make my shake with even a cherry. "Yeah" I say. "That is the Fullmetal Alchemist. Sounds like that menace Scar was out and about tonight; some poor woman got hurt in the crossfires." the bartender says. "Who did he call?" I ask. The Bartender gives me a suspicion eye and says "Well, his superior obviously; Colonel Mustang."