Scar

Scar Part X

The snow was blinding. Even through the black glassed that she wore, Evelyn still had to squint. Over the expanse of the white, there was nothing to do but think and remember. Thoughts and images sluggishly moved through her mind.It was monotonous, tedious. She did nothing but think and walk, but even that was an effort now. She remembered the events of the previous day. Edward, for whatever odd reason, insisted he tag along, probably because he wanted something to do, but definitely because he wanted attention. This of course caused many complaints about his auto-mail freezing. At  this point, Evelyn grew tired of placing her hand on her companion's shoulder to relieve the tension this foul-mouthed teenager caused. His brother, of course was an absolute joy and now had a small dark-haired companion. That was another interesting event of the day before. Evelyn had come home to find a small girl on the couch sleeping while a strange, burning smell wafted through the air. As she entered into the kitchen she met the source of the aroma a wild-eyed Scar with a pan. She laughed,and with a gentle kiss on his cheek, she relieved him from his duties. Meanwhile, he caught her up on everything that happened and why they now had a little girl for which to care. 

Her name was May Chang of the Xing region. She had a small, mammal friend she called Xiao-Mei whom she would go nowhere without. A smile relaxed into Evelyn's features. With her making dinner, Scar by her side, and little May Chang asleep on her couch, she could almost be fooled into thinking that she finally had a family. She desired nothing more than to languish in her illusion. She proved to be a hardly little thing, only asking to ride on. Scar's shoulders twice during the entire walk thus far.

Never in her years had Evelyn ever seen Fort Briggs. Now, gazing up at it, she concluded she was wrong in thinking that it was guarded by the gods. Fort Briggs was a god. It was the god of strength and steel. It stared down its foes with a heartless gaze. Its walls quietly boomed at them. It reprimanded them to dare to look so boldly at it. Evelyn shrunk under its intimation. From its mouth ran five soldiers who seized the group and brought them inside. Although the chaos and restraints were unpleasant, the heat that surrounded them was a welcomed sensation. Footsteps echoed down the hall and stopped at the closed door in front of them, and through it walked Major General Armstrong. She was the embodiment of them snow and metal that encased them. With a glance, one could be struck dumb by her overwhelming beauty and her frigid demeanor. Evelyn, on the other hand, had known her for years and was unaffected by her and so wasted no time in re-connecting.

"Livi!" She broke past the crowd. Armstrong's eyes lit up. 

"Eva!" The general demanded the cuffs be undone, and within seconds, the two were held by each other in a firm embrace. They parted to kiss each other's cheeks, an Ishvalan tradition Evelyn had instilled into her Amestrian friend. Her soldiers watched the interaction, mesmerized by the rate the ice melted from her aura. Even her features were turning from winter to spring. Her skin was no longer snow, for it now seemed to beam with the delicate pink of wildflowers. The spun ice of her hair now was giving way to brilliant beams of light, and her face flowed effortlessly from an indifferent, freezing expression to caring warmth. She was a spark that could set hearts ablaze.

"What are you doing here?" Olivier held Evelyn by the shoulders and and smiled down at her. She was at least a full head taller than her Ishvalan friend.

"I'd love to tell you right now, but I'm under orders not to. It's for your ears only."

"Oh. I see. Private Madison," a young man almost leaped forward in response. "Show them to their quarters. I want them in C block." 

"Yes, ma'am." He turned on his heels Evelyn began to walk out with them, but Armstrong quickly put that idea to rest when she clapped a slim hand on her shoulder. 

"Uh, where do you think you're going?"

"To my quarters." Olivier raised an eyebrow and responded with no shortage of sass. 

"You're staying with me. It's been for too long."

One would expect General Armstrong's room to be as strict as plain as her leadership. Though it's decor was minimal, it was in no sense of the word, "plain." It reminded Evelyn of a smaller and slightly less elaborate version of the grand house in which both girls had been raised. An entire wall was lined with books. Evelyn smiled in remembrance of the hours of the hours they lie on the same sofa in silence reading together; these were the times they because the closest, the times that fortified their friendship to be unbreakable. Many times they'd read the same thing and swoon over are character and curse another. An her nightstand there was a gilded lamp with a floral shade trimmed in gold, a three wicked candle, a book, and a tri-foldable frame with pictures of her family and one of Evelyn. Her head was roomy and lavish with a thick down comforter and a mass of pillows. She had always been a cold sleeper, often reading eyes more than that to get rest. Just opposite of the bed was a fire-place with little spurts of lights begging for from under the ashes. Olivier moved to stir the fire. She threw in two split logs and sprinkled lint around them, and soon, the fire began to awaken and stretch its arms. She filled her french press with coffee grounds and hot water, and once it had finished brewing, they each sat down on her bed with a mug.

"So, what did you need to tell me privately?" Evelyn took a deep breath and began to describe the recent chain of events. Her tongue battled to curve her thoughts into words to describe the secretly, the scandal, and the betrayal committed by their own government. 

"My goodness, I knew our military was corrupt, but I had no idea."

"There's another thing..." Evelyn waited for Olivier to give a reassuring nod. "You know that blood circle I told you about." Another nod, "Well, to complete it and make the alchemic procoss work, major bloodshed has to take place one more time."

"Where?" The fear in her voice was masked with hard suspicion, it was razor yet weak like obsidian. The silence forced Olivier to look at the obvious conclusion in the hideous face, the face dripping with red. "Oh, God. That's why you came. I need to double security."

"Try multiplying it ten times. Livi we're talking on the scale of the Ishvalan Revolution, of uprisings of the Letoists. You're out-gunned against everyone. Who knows whats on the other side of those mountains?"

"Are you saying my fortress will fall?"

"All I'm saying is that you can't fight this alone. Roy's command and mine are going to cut the head off of the snake. Without this regime to push a war, there will be no war. There will be no fight. I'm asking you to join the efforts."

"I'll do it." There was no hesitation. Armstrong's voice was supported by the rock she was cornered behind.

"I want you to sleep on this one Livi. This is treason. We wouldn't just be killed. You know what would happen to us and our families."

"What other choice do I have, Evelyn? Briggs is just as much of my family as my blood, and if someone threatens my family, I don't go down like a lamb. No, I'll fight. If anything because blood is a hell of a stain to get out of this carpeting."

...to be continued...