SCARLETT
"Fool! The absence of fear doesn't equal courage! The absence of fear is absolute insanity!" she screamed.
"Really? Are you sure? You're terrified now." the demon taunted.
"Exactly!"
She shot awake, screaming. The blankets confined her movement, made her panic even more.
Her breath was heavy, labored. Her body was covered in an icy sweat.
"D-damn demon..." she panted, clutching her chest. "Huh?" As she'd been raising a hand to wipe the sweat away, her tattoos had started to glow. All of the sudden, thousands of large blades shot out of her body. She screamed again.
The lights shot on, and the blades vanished. "Scarlett? What's wro-!"
Everyone stared.
She trembled, understanding why they stared. The sheets, her clothes, and the bed were all ripped and blood-soaked. "Wha... What..." She felt another scream building up in her chest.
"Gracia, take Alicia and Winry downstairs." Hughes ordered, moving into the room. His wife obeyed. "Scarlett? What happened?" he asked.
"I... I don't... I don't know..." she panted.
"Tell me. We heard you scream and woke up. Then there was a lull, and then you screamed again. What's going on? You can trust us." Hughes said.
"Every night..."
Small, red, laughing. Growing larger, into her!
"I have this dream... This little red demon is laughing at me, telling me... Telling me to become brave, I must remove all fear..."
"That's not courage. That's just craziness." Hughes shook his head.
"That's what I say... But then... It starts to turn into me... and says that I'm terrified... No matter what happens, I... the real me... gets hurt..." she gasped. "And tonight... They... They glowed, and... and blades shot out... Shot out of my body, all over..."
She was panting, gasping for breath. "I don't know..." she breathed, feeling tears flood her eyes. "I don't know what's happening to me!" she screamed.
EDWARD
Groggily, he walked into Mustang's office. "Now what?" he yawned. "It's the middle of the night."
"True, but Hughes just called. Something's wrong with Scarlett." the colonel replied grimly.
"What?" He was wide awake now. "But... What happened?"
"He said that it started as a nightmare, but then it got worse. He asked for me to come over along with you two as well."
What could be so bad that Hughes would want all of us? What exactly is wrong with Scarlett?
Many images crammed into his head, none of them exactly pleasant.
When they arrived at Hughes's place, Gracia answered the door. "Maes said you were coming." she said softly. Behind her, Winry and Alicia were curled up on a couch.
"What's wrong?" Al asked.
"I don't know. He told me to take Alicia down here and remained with Scarlett. Her scream woke us up, and then we went to see what was wrong. Her sheets, bed and clothes were ripped up and soaked in blood. Even she didn't know what was going on; She tried to ask us what was wrong, but she was just about ready to scream again."
Before Gracia could say anything else, a terrified scream rent the air.
They charged upstairs, burst into the room, and froze.
Hughes stood a few feet away from the bed, his face shocked and angered. Scarlett writhed in pain on the bed, sobbing. Hundreds of huge silver blades covered int trans-mutation circles stuck out from her skin, the flesh around them sliced neatly apart. "Roy!" Hughes cried, spinning around. "Any idea as to what's going on?"
"I have an idea, but it may not be accurate... I think... That whatever those tattoos purpose was, they're triggered by strong emotions. So she's unintentionally ripped herself apart..." Edward said slowly. He then gasped.
The blades had sunk back into Scarlett's body, and all of the neat rips were somehow sewn up. Scarlett flopped onto the bed, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps. "Why... What..." she wept, turning her face to them.
What exactly was wrong?
SCARLETT
"Are you sure? You aren't worried I'll hurt you?" she asked, her voice cracking.
"Nah, not really! But our teacher is an expert on Alchemy! If anyone can figure these arrays out, she can!" Edward grinned, still holding the ticket out to her. "I'm not worried about you hurting us; I'm worried about you hurting yourself."
Why...? Why...?
"O-okay..." she said, taking the slip and following them.
Why are they so kind? Why aren't they scared of me?
Is it really kindness? Or possibly pity?
No... These feelings are of kindness. I can tell just by looking.
Half-way to Rush Valley, she felt something was wrong. She jumped up. "No..."
"Scarlett? What's wrong?" asked Winry.
"Hughes..." she murmured. "Hughes is..."
"What's wrong with Hughes?" Edward asked, his cheery attitude lost. He was now serious.
"Hughes is... gone..." she murmured. "Why am I feeling like this?"
"Lose your fear. You can become brave then!"
She gritted her teeth in anger.
"Damn demon... I don't need you now! Come back tonight or write this all down so I can read it later!"
"Don't worry. I'm sure he's fine." Winry tried to soothe.
"You can believe that... But I don't think it's true..." she said under her breath.
She was silent the rest of the trip, receded into herself. She knew something was wrong, but she couldn't tell what.