Fair warning: This will be an odd chapter because of the nightmare and stuff. The Italic words are all in Elizabeth's mind, her dream. Everything else will be in 3rd person's point of view. The reason for this is so that you, as the reader, know what her nightmare is, while also being aware of the other people's reactions and Elizabeth's reactions in real life:) Oh, and I'm re-numbering the chapters. Seeing MY chapter 15 as FANFICTION'S chapter 16, or 17 as 18, or 1 as 2, ect, is getting on my nerves:/ The chapters themselves aren't getting changed, nor are the titles, just the numbers:3
(Third Person Point of View)
"Elizabeth, sweetie," Mother called, "Come and play with Edward and Alphonse with me." I looked up at my mother from my child-self. Her beautiful brown hair swept to the side in a loose ponytail framed her subtly sweet face, currently holding a bright smile. The idealistic picture only lasted a moment.
The Truth I saw at the gate that fateful day appeared, sitting in the only posture I'd ever seen it sit in. One leg was bent at the knee and flat on the ground under the other, which it rested its arm lazily on. His head was laying sideways on his arm with a wicked grin, looking almost playful.
"Elizabeth, sweetie," It called in my mother's sweet voice, "Come and play with Edward and Alphonse with me." His voice changed towards the end, turning much scratchier and rough. I tried to scream and run, but couldn't move at all. It's just a dream. I need to wake up. Just a dream.
Riza and Jean bombarded into the room where Elizabeth lay screaming, guns pulled, expecting to have to shoot an intruder. They lowered their guns from an all-but empty room, making their way to the delusional girl.
"Beth?" Jean called, shaking her. "Wake up, it's a dream." Elizabeth ceased her screaming, but didn't wake up.
Jean wondered what she could be dreaming of. Riza, although much better hidden, was concerned about the same thing.
The truth beast from the gate laughed at her failed attempt to scream, "You're in my world now," He said. He took mother's voice once more to add mockingly, "Sweetie."
He grinned a toothy, white grin and revealed to Elizabeth her two brothers, along some other friends. All those who she had befriended at central were present as well, Mustang, Hawkeye, Fuery, and Havoc. In order they stood, all smiling happily at her. Edward had his arm and leg back, grinning his Eddy grin at her. Alphonse was out of his armor, standing a few inches taller than Ed. Then came Fuery, smiling shyly behind his reflecting glasses. His radio was absent. Riza was next, standing between Kain and Roy. She and Mustang were holding hands, expressionlessly as they seemed to do everything. It was evident, however, that they were both very happy. Last in line was Havoc, smiling eagerly at me.
I was utterly confused, why did he seem so eerie and distrustful? He was showing my friends, what is he going to do to them?
Just as Havoc had stood from Elizabeth's side to wait outside her room, she began crying out again, calling Edward's name.
"No!" she screeched, "Not Edward! Don't take him!" Riza grabbed Elizabeth's thrashing arms, restraining her before someone got hurt. Though a punch might not seem like much, an automail arm never felt nice to the nose.
"Dammit," Havoc cursed roughly under his breath, rushing across the room to help, "What the hell is her nightmare about?"
I watched helplessly, frozen in space as the thing at the gate unraveled Edward's body, taking him into the gate. He fought fiercely against the current of shadow hands clawing at him, but all in vain. Reaching out for my help one last time, I watched my twin brother disappear past the gate. As it slowly inched closed, I anticipated the creak of its seal. I was disappointed when it didn't close all the way, and fearful when I realized what it meant.
Elizabeth sobbed uncontrollably in her sleep, breaking into a cold sweat. "Give him back! Leave them all alone!"
Havoc groaned in frustration, "Hawkeye, why can't we wake her up?!" he whispered furiously. Hawkeye paid his tone no mind, understanding how helpless the fighter was feeling.
"If we woke her up now, she might think she's still dreaming. There's no telling what she might do in that state of delusion." She replied calmly and hastily, wiping away Elizabeth's sweat with a rag. "I wish we could just get her out of the dream too, Jean. No one should have to relive horrible memories, not in their sleep like this."
"Sister!" Alphonse cried, reaching out to me, fighting against the swarm of hands just as passionately as Edward had. "Sister, help me!" He cried out again in desperation. I found myself able to move, but not nearly fast enough. Though I ran to him as swiftly as I could, he never got any nearer. "Al! Alphonse!" I cried out, our fingertips just barely brushing against each other before he was ripped away from me.
Like Edward, he was completely unraveled by the truth that lurked around the gate. His face was almost gone all the way, but he still managed to partly utter, "Sist-!" before being swept away completely.
"Al. Al. A-Al!" Elizabeth choked out, unknowingly beckoning the duo to her bedside. She'd been eerily quiet for a minute or two, allowing Havoc and Riza to relax partially. Once again she stuttered in a breathy plea, "Al. Al. A-Al!" As if begging for him to return.
Riza's cold heart had completely melted to this girl's vulnerability. She understood the terror of having to relive things that could have been done much better, or could have had a much happier ending.
She gently swept the strewn hair away from the girl's face, feeling much like an older sister to Elizabeth in that moment. Her moment was disrupted by a hand shooting out and grabbing her arm. Thinking Elizabeth had woken up, she immediately became alert to tend to her.
"Riza, don't...Leave. Don't leave me." She mumbled out sadly, latching onto Riza with all she had. "Don't go through the gate. The gate will kill you. Don't die." Her eyes were open, looking past Riza into who knows what. Hawkeye knew what was happening, Elizabeth was sleep talking. Not the odd, mumbling kind, but full-fledged, coherent speaking. This was directly linked to her dream.
"Edward, Alphonse, and...Me." She muttered thoughtfully to herself.
Riza and Roy were ripped apart violently, breaking their placid charade. They were being pulled into separate gates, even worse than into one gate together. I reached out to grab each of their hands, a desperate attempt to rejoin them. Like the other before them, however, they were dragged struggling into the gate by slithering, evil hands.
Elizabeth's tantrum became still. She hadn't moved for nearly ten minutes. Riza and Havoc slowly began to relax, feeling the tension dissipate and leave the room altogether. Havoc let out a deep sigh.
"What do you think she'd dreaming of?" He asked whimsically, a bit off from his lack of sleep and weariness of dealing with a hysteric but oblivious Elizabeth. Riza sat up, think how to go about explaining the situation. Would Elizabeth mind if she told Jean her story? "Don't worry about their past. I know how they really lost their bodies," Havoc added with a playful glint in his eye and a small smirk hovering just under the surface, "The Eastern conflict, right?"
Riza smiled thoughtfully and nodded, "Yes. She's probably having night-terrors about those who took her mother and hurt her brothers." She replied vaguely. The general answer confirmed Havoc's shapeless thoughts of her nightmare. So she was dreaming of the failed transmutation. But what did a gate have to do with that?
His thoughts were shattered by Elizbeth's shrill cries once again. "No!" She convulsed on her bed, thrashing like she was trying to escape some entanglement. Riza launched herself to her bedside, swiftly grabbing the shaking arms in fear of flailing arms. "No! Come back!" Her voice was much higher than before, much more desperate. Snapping out of a daze, he also rushed to her side, securing her legs to keep her from kicking anyone.
She began shaking violently, similarly to a seizure. "Give him back. Give him back." She called in a broken voice. Whatever had just happened in her dream, she lost someone important. Edward, thought both Riza and Jean. Her sobs of grief filled the room as she slowly began to wake up.
"Jean." I called out hopelessly, "Don't leave me. I-I'm scared." I walked out to him, the hands and gate nowhere to be found. He accepted me and my fear and sadness without hesitation, opening his arms to me. I hugged him tightly, realizing just how much Jean would be there for me, if I needed him.
A dark laugh penetrated the dark, vague room. "You thought I'd forget the most important one?" that thing's voice asked sarcastically, "Without him, I couldn't properly break you, now could I?" I hugged Havoc tighter, not willing to let go.
"No. No. ." I muttered to myself and the thing into Havoc's chest. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to force myself awake. I knew this was a dream, so why couldn't I make myself wake up? "I won't lose you too, Jean."
Cold, slithering armed wound themselves around my waist, wedging themselves between Jean and I. "No!" I screamed, snapping my eyes open. I flailed around, trying to escape my confines. Jean was reaching out to me from the ground...From the gate. "No!" I cried desperately as the gate beneath Havoc's feet collapsed open, dragging him inside its darkness. "Come back!" I cried again. I felt tears stain my face as the winding arms slowly let me descend. I touched the ground in moments, collapsing on the newly closed gate.
I crumpled up and sobs racked my body as I lay on the closed gate, pleading with it. "Give him back. Give him back." I lost my ability to speak as the sobs came stronger and I found myself unable to withhold them any longer.
"Elizabeth." Riza's voice echoed through my mind. I looked around, having heard that concerned voice before. It never was a good sign. What happened? Did she make it back? Is Mustang okay? Are my brothers and Fuery okay? Is Havoc okay?
"R-Riza!" I cried, watching her materialize in front of me. The room was smaller than before and the gate had disappeared. She was sitting near me, watching over me.
Her face held a worried look, and she said, "What happened, Elizabeth? What was in your dream?" I froze. My dream. Are we still in it? Is she the truth, disguised as Riza, like he was my mother?
My crying began anew as I fell into Riza's arms, sobbing.
Elizabeth, fully awake but not quite aware, wrapped her arms around Riza, crying into her shoulder. Hawkeye wore a shocked expression for a split second before relaxing and rubbing the girl's back in comfort. Havoc took this as his cue to leave the moment. He silently moved outside, leaning against the wall near the door and lighting a cigarette.
Still within hearing range, he heard Elizabeth recount her horrible nightmare as Riza began it with the question, "What was your nightmare, Elizabeth? You need to tell me." Though it was very direct and firm, her voice didn't have the sharp and sometimes harsh tone it normally did when she had to speak.
"Ed-Edward and A-Alphonse were there, and-d then Kain, aand you aand Mus-stang." She stuttered out, still hiccuping and breathing irregularly from her dream. "H-Havoc." She took a deep breath, "Havoc was there, too." She added, a bit steadier than the rest, but still very shakily.
Riza nodded, still comforting the girl, "And what made it a nightmare?" She pried gently. Havoc was a bit surprised, he had never seen nor heard this kinder side of Hawkeye.
Elizabeth took a deep, shaky breath to prevent herself from crying at the thought of losing Havoc. "You all were-were taken into th-the Gate." She whimpered, just barely audible to Havoc's trained ear. "And I couldn't do any-"She hiccuped, "Anything." She sniffled a bit. The memory flashed behind her eyes to be seen by her and her alone. It frightened her more than any nightmare she'd ever had.
Riza hesitated, her reactions had been drawn out. Something happened to each person, it must have. "Tell me what happened to everyone," She demanded softly, "In order." Elizabeth bit her bottom lip like a little girl in trouble, but she slowly nodded.
She began to recount what happened, starting from her mother's voice and the truth. Then she told of Edward's resistance, getting shakier by the minute. By the time she told of what Alphonse had screamed so desperately, her entire body was quivering. Riza felt guilty for making her relive the memory, especially so soon after she had to experience it, but she felt obligated to share Elizabeth's burden.
She told of Fuery's fate next, with a sorrowful look in her eye. Riza knew that she'd gotten close to Kain, they were alike in many ways, even though she was much more confident and opinionated than he. Elizabeth hesitated when it came to Hawkeye and Mustang's part. She slowly explained the relationship that they seemed to have, which Riza accepted without comment. Hawkeye knew that Elizabeth had a good eye for a person's emotions, and it came as no surprise to her that she had sensed their complicated but memorable past together.
If her prior hesitation was a mere split second, this one had a feeling of hours. Elizabeth was unaware of Havoc's presence, yet she still lied to Riza, mumbling out a quick, "Havoc was taken the exact same way as Edward and Alphonse." In reality, the event passed back and forth in front of her eyes, taunting her of her helplessness in that moment. The mumble was much too quick, rising Hawkeye's suspicion.
"No," She drew out slowly, "He wasn't." Elizabeth remained silent, biting her lip to the point of pain. "Tell me." She ordered. The girl sitting on the bed remained silent still, yet an aura of fear and regret lingered around her. She was almost positive she was awake, but a part of her wished to believe this was a part of her nightmare. That she wasn't really sharing this nightmare, a nightmare that made her vulnerable and weak, with Hawkeye. "Elizabeth!" Hawkeye snapped angrily. Her facade shattered along with her sense of reality in this dark bedroom.
She crumpled in the bed, seeing the gate beneath her once more, "I-I couldn't save him!" She cried softly to Riza, sobs returning to her body like an aftershock to an earthquake. "The gate," She let out a cry of frustration, beating the bed, thinking she was thumping on the gate, "The gate took him away from me and I-I-I couldn't save him!" She dug her fingers through her hair, grieving for the loss that only she knew about.
Outside of the room, Havoc's mind was racing. The one she was crying out for so desperately was him? It was him? Not her brother, Edward, by Havoc. He couldn't quite wrap his mind around the idea because of her actions to him lately, but it didn't matter. In fact, he dismissed her recent behavior and the dream completely.
Right now, Beth thought that he was dead. Right now, she thought she couldn't save him. He didn't know what the 'gate' was, or why a gate scared her so much, but it did. He wasn't going to let a gate make Beth think that she was responsible for something happening to him. Especially something in a nightmare.
Without a second thought, he pushed himself off the wall and pinched his cigarette, putting it out and slipping it into his pocket. He silently slipped in the room, flashing the light on. The sudden light blinded Elizabeth, halting her hysterics by sheer shock. He walked to the bedside while she was still a bit dazed and tapped Riza on the shoulder, letting her know it was alright for her to switch places with him.
Though she still looked dazed, Elizabeth wasn't blinded for more than a split second. Her eyes adjust to bright light very quickly due to her experience with Alchemy. The dazed effect came from Havoc's sudden appearance. It made her doubt her reality, and consciousness. She reached out slowly to him, wide-eyed and awestruck.
He smiled and took her outstretched hand, pressing it up against his face. The rough stubble on his face made her own crumple and redden, silent tears once more appearing. "J-Jean." she gasped out.
He smiled at her with an odd expression and replied, "Beth?" He relieved her fear more with one word than with Riza's entire conversation.
Elizabeth stood on her knees on the bed, coming nearly eye-to-eye with Havoc. She grazed his jawline with her hand, a seriously doubtful expression painted into her expression. She gulped and removed her hand, finally accepting that it was really Jean Havoc and that she was really awake now. A smile crossed her face as she allowed herself to fall towards him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and snuggling her face into his shoulder.
Though her arm was cold on his skin, Havoc's reaction was immediate, wrapping his arm around her waist to reciprocate the hug. Elizabeth was shaking from a combination of laughter and tears of relief.
From the doorway, Hawkeye watched with a smile. Those two looked good together to her.