Trials Vol.2: The Gray Sky\'s Revenge

A/N: See Prequel. This chapter has an odd twist; my psychiatrist calls it ingenuity.



~~~~~~~One Year Ago~~~~~~

Elysia stared at the ceiling of Scar’s bedroom. Despite the fact that the man seemed to be an endless wanderer, he had a vast amount of money. Her uncles Roy and Ed were well off, but Scar...Scar was rich. She quietly assumed that Scar stole money and other possessions from the people he killed, but knew that he was sharing his wealth with the remnants of the Ishbalan people. The sheets she lay upon were made of fine silk and were wine colored, only a few shades darker than Scar’s eyes. Elysia sighed when she felt her lover’s arms encircle her waist and smiled at the ruby orbs peering at her.

“Did I hurt you.” Scar had a habit of phrasing everything, even questions, into sentences which most of the time were rhetorical. He knew he hadn’t hurt her, that he was always careful in their lovemaking, that the seal to her youth had been carelessly broken long before now, but he knew of her past, and did not want to add his name to the list of people who had fucked Elysia Felicity Hughes over.

Elysia turned to face him, her blind silver eye ‘watching’ him as she smiled. “No. You’ve never hurt me. I don’t think you have it in you to hurt a child,” she said with a gentle expression on her face.

Scar turned away momentarily, remembering Nina Tucker. He didn’t know if Elysia knew how he brutally murdered the girl, but in his eyes, he was doing her a favor. Her psycho asshole father bonded her to a dog ‘The very thought STILL pissed Scar off to this day!!!!’ and turned her into a chimera. It was more of a mercy killing than anything else. Scar turned back over to find his lips almost pressing against Elysia’s. He loved the girl; he loved her multi-colored eyes, her tall, statuesque frame, and her long black hair with green highlights. When he first met Elysia almost a year ago, the child had long almost floor length sand colored hair. He had met her while she was training with Izumi Curtis, the Fullmetal’s sensei.

~~~~~~~Two Years Ago~~~~~~


Izumi stared at the pale, skinny, wan child. She knew Elysia’s background, and how Al had saved her from an orderly at the mental hospital she was staying. Izumi fought back tears of rage and indignation at how for four years Elysia’s catatonic condition was constantly taken advantage of. Al told his sensei of how Elysia was almost daily raped by atleast three different orderlies, who all strangely disappeared after Roy was notified of what was happening. Al was the one who actually caught one of the male nurses straddling Elysia, fucking her so hard that there was a small pool of blood underneath them. Al had difficulty sleeping at night sometimes, reliving the moment he walked into that so called white sterile room and seeing Elysia’s dead, glazed over eyes as the ugly, overweight orderly humped the living crap out of her. In a fit of rage, Al threw the man out of the nearest window and picked Elysia up and ran out of the hospital.

“Elysia. Elysia!” Al screamed as he sped away from the hospital, kicking up dust. Elysia just sat there in the shotgun seat, silent, not even noticing the blood running down her thighs. When safely away from the hospital, Al pulled his car over and got out and walked around to Elysia’s side. Opening her door and squatting down, he gently turned her around and looked her square in the eyes.

“Darling, I know what happened. But unless you start talking, we can’t fix anything. And if you don’t regain your sanity or some kind of emotions, we have to send you back to a hospital.” Al noted the look of horror that registered on Elysia’s face.

Then Al asked Elysia the most important question of her life.

“Do you want revenge?” he asked in a low voice, his hazel eyes burning. “Revenge on Envy, on Lust, and on Dante? Revenge on those who slew your family?” Al’s whisper seemed to make Elysia’s skin burn. She narrowed her eyes and made her hand into a weak fist.

“Do you want it Elysia?” She stared at him and opened her mouth, her vocal cords refusing at first to make a sound. A grating noise came out. She shut her mouth and tried again, this time a harsh and strangled “Yes” came out.

“Izumi can train you. I’ve already contacted her and she‘s been waiting for you.” In a flash, Al was back in the driver’s seat, headed to Dublith, where Izumi and her husband, Sig, resided.


“The training will not be easy, Ansatsusha,” Izumi said after hearing the girl’s heartbreaking story. Al gave his sensei a questioning look. “Why do you call her that? She’s never hurt anyone before.” Izumi walked up to Al and grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him hard, putting him in his place. Even though he was not directly under Izumi anymore, they both still considered her to be his sensei, and respect was expected to be shown.

“While she is with me, until she proves herself, she will be known as Ansatsusha.” Izumi declared in a loud voice. “That is what you want to become, isn’t it, child?” she directed her question at Elysia, who just stood off to one side, watching but not really seeing.

“Hai Sensei.” was the reply. Izumi nodded and looked at Al. “I trained you and Edward to be men, to fight and to protect yourselves. This little flower will become an assassin. A killer in the highest caliber. She can be no less than that if she desires to defeat Dante.” Izumi walked around the hut and placed a steaming cup of tea in Elysia’s hands. “Drink,” she urged when Elysia made no movement. Elysia drank down the bitter fluid, tears forming in her eyes. The hot tea burned her already strained throat and made her want to vomit. However, after she finished the tea, she felt renewed strength, strength she had not felt since her parents died.

Al moved slowly towards Elysia, a look of sadness on his face. He moved to embrace her, stroking her short, jagged hair. “Do well. Obey Izumi because your life depends on it. Remember your goals but allow her to break you and rebuild you. If you feel the need to pray, there is a small temple outside with a cherry blossom tree. Izumi will not stop you from praying unless she thinks you are just trying to avoid doing training.”

Al released Elysia and cupped her pretty face in his hands, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs. “You will be strong and you will honor your family. We love you, never forget that.” Elysia watched Al as he quickly walked away, noticing the man wiping tears from his face.

“Edward told me once before that your father was a brilliant swordsman.” Elysia turned and faced Izumi and nodded her head. “Hai, Sensei,” she said almost in a whisper.

“I will train you in the arts of Katana, Chisa Katana, Daito, Kogatana, Hamidashi, and Kwaiken. You will learn Bushido and gain honor if you are good enough as well.” Izumi unwrapped a midlength wooden sword and threw it at Elysia.

“Bokken,” she said, examining the sword. Izumi was slightly impressed. “Tell me, Ansatsusha, what do you know of Japanese swords?”

Elysia stood up tall, proud that her father had taught her the way of Japanese steel. She humbly explained how her father was a master swordsman but used Tanto as a way of killing his opponents because they could be easily hidden behind clothing. While telling the story, Elysia remembered the sessions with her father instructing her how to hold the swords and how to sheath and unsheathe them. The webbing between her thumb and pointer finger bore the correct scars as a novice sword handler that sheathed a sword incorrectly.

Izumi listened and then sat down in front of Elysia. “Meet me, Ansatsusha,” Izumi said, not taking her gaze from Elysia’s skinny legs. The girl sat down in front of her sensei and looked away, not wanting to be disrespectful and meet her eyes. “Your training will be extremely difficult, moreover because you are knowing of the Steel. Do not at any time profess to know more than I. If you do, you will know an insurmountable amount of pain.” Izumi stood and snatched the Bokken from Elysia’s hand. She broke the wood over her knee and threw it up into the air.

“Your enemies will switch places with you. You will break them, as they have broken you. They will become your pawns and you will feed off the nectar that is their blood. They will tremble, quake, and fear you to the point of taking their own miserable lives. Rise, Ansatsusha, and begin training now!” Izumi cried. She ripped off Elysia’s bloodstained hospital gown and outfitted her in a dark green mandarin collar tunic and matching pants. When the girl was dressed, Izumi nodded and told Elysia to follow her.

“You will spend ten days and ten nights in the woods, beginning with tonight. All of the property around this area belongs to Sig and myself. If by some chance you reach our boundaries, do not go beyond them. You will know if you have left out realm because we have caltrops spread around the ground. The blood will attract animals, and you will surely perish.” Izumi talked and walked with Elysia, and in moments her dojo was out of sight and the thick forest had all but immersed them. “The object is not to find your way out of the forest, but to learn to live in it and cope with a situation you can do nothing about.” Elysia watched as Izumi stopped and handed her a machete that seemed to be pulled from nowhere. Izumi chopped off one of her dreadlocks and handed it and the machete to Elysia.

“This will protect you from any animals within the boundaries that you cannot kill. The machete is to hunt and to make shelter. Note where this spot is. I will meet you here on the morning of the eleventh day. If you are not here, I will assume you to be deceased.” With that, Izumi threw a white powder in the air, temporarily blinding Elysia and disappeared.

When Izumi came back on the eleventh morning, she was startled, impressed, and amazed. Elysia had the skins of what appeared to be possibly a bear or other large animal wrapped around her and looked as if she had gained a considerable amount of weight. Her face was red from the blood of slain animals, and there was a large gash on her thigh from where she was probably bitten. She was sitting on a log of a tree that she had cut down and beside that log was a makeshift three wall shelter, which the fourth wall could be one of the many skins she had. Elysia wore a slightly deranged look on her face and held the machete close to her chest.

“Arise, Ansatsusha, if you are of correct mind and come to me,” Izumi spoke clear and loud, making the birds fly from the trees. Elysia dropped the bearskin and walked over to her sensei, bowing her head slightly. Izumi nodded and led her out of the woods back to the dojo.

Throughout her training, Elysia seemed to be the prodigal student. She was focused and never complained or doubted herself. Izumi still would test Elysia and beat her periodically to show her that she was not her friend, but her teacher and that emotional support and trust were not given, but had to be earned. The first year of Elysia’s training was extremely hard, mainly because Izumi was the only person she came in contact with. Sig stayed away from the dojo, and Elysia had only seen him twice, the first time mistaking him for an intruder and attempted to murder him. Of course, even with the broken jaw she received from trying to fight Sig, Izumi still made her train. Izumi would pull at her dreadlocks, a sign that she was silently pleased with her student. She sent pictures to Roy, Ed, and Al, noting Elysia’s progress.

The day Elysia and Scar met was a day that no one could forget.

Elysia was sweeping the dojo, her almost body long hair pinned up with her Katana blade, a blade that Izumi had crafted for her. The long black scabbard had Kanji engravings for peace, spirituality, and death on it and the handle was covered in embedded quartz and rubies found out in the forest. The sword in her hair was pinned far back enough as not to hit against her back while she worked, but close enough for her to reach behind her and unsheathe and fight if necessary.

Scar walked through the woods, staring up at the dojo on the hill. He knew from speaking with Al that this was where they had trained in their youth, and that their sensei was connected to Dante. He planned on going to the dojo and either find out the where the stone was and explode some heads, or just go and explode some heads. He stopped short when he saw the young girl sweeping the floor that was facing him. He snuck quietly up to one of the wooden poles and planned on disabling the girl, but not killing her since she obviously was not Izumi and probably didn’t know anything about the stone.

(whistling noise)

Scar’s red eyes looked above his head, where a long shiny blade lay.

“What is your purpose here?” a deep, grating voice asked. Looking around the post, he saw it was the girl that was sweeping the dojo, the girl that had nearly decapitated him.

‘I didn’t even sense or hear her move!!! Who is she...what is she?’ Scar’s mind raced for answers.

“I have no quarrel with you, child. I come to speak with Izumi Curtis.” Scar jumped back from the blade that was deeply embedded in the post and stared at the girl. Her silver eye irked him greatly, and he wished she wasn’t there. Elysia stared at him, not moving.

“Sensei is not expecting you. Are you here to kill her?” Scar winced at the girl’s voice. It seemed like the girl’s vocal cords were covered in gravel. He glared at her and bared his arm, the one containing the power of Ishbal.

“Step aside, child. I am here for the Curtis woman and that is all. If you choose to contend with me, I will be forced to dispatch of you.” Scar barely had time to blink before Elysia removed the blade and in nanoseconds had it at the man’s neck.

‘Lightning speed! This girl...who is she?’

“Ansatsusha!” a voice bellowed from out of nowhere. Elysia quickly sheathed her Katana and jumped on the roof of the dojo, slightly startling Scar. Two figures jumped back down, one being Elysia and the other being Izumi.

“Scar.” Izumi narrowed her eyes at the Ishbalan.

“Izumi Curtis.” Scar returned her icy glance.

“Are you here for Fullmetal? Because he isn’t here.” Izumi’s glare never wavered.

“No. I am here for information about Dante and the Philsopher’s Stone.”

Izumi nodded and gestured to the inside of the dojo. “Please sit. We will discuss what I know.” Scar looked at Izumi, and then at Elysia, who still wore a blank stare. “Ladies first,” he said with a wry grin.

Scar walked back outside after hearing Izumi’s side of the story. He balked in asking where Fullmetal was; if he were to go after him, he was sure that the woman would warn him, and he would try to get his pussy-ass military behind him to attempt to defeat him. Scar barely listened to what Izumi was saying, he was fixed on the beautiful but marred girl who sat quietly and still in the corner. She was almost an apparition; she was so still and quiet.

“Did you know my father?” Scar turned around when he heard the grating voice. The girl had repinned her hair that fell when she unsheathed her Katana to fight him. She stared at him intently, blinking her blue-green eye. Her silver eye, he noticed, always stayed open, giving her a broken china doll look.

“No.” Scar turned away, obviously stricken by such a beautiful woman.

Elysia reached out and touched Scar’s tattooed arm, causing a reaction of purple light. “I feel them,” she whispered, more to herself than anyone else. Scar snatched his arm away in horror. Very few people knew of what powers his arm possessed, and mainly what his arm contained.

“Get away from me.” Scar’s usual strong voice had a slight childish tinge to it, as if he were worried or scared. Elysia looked at him and began to walk away. He grabbed her arm, and pulled her into a strong hug, something she had not had in over a year. In fact, she had no physical contact with anyone, sans the occasional beatings from Izumi and the punch from Sig. Scar held her, and he could feel how broken she actually was.

“My name is Elysia Hughes,” she murmured into his yellow jacket. He froze. ‘Hughes? So familiar...’ Scar thought and then the name registered. He remembered Al telling him once about an important militia member named Maes Hughes, but that he was not a state alchemist. Because he wasn’t, he was of no importance to Scar. ‘Hmmm...maybe that was her father’ he thought, but remained silent.

Scar pulled himself away from Elysia and sighed. Nothing had ever moved his heart so, until he met this lost girl. He kissed her on her forehead and walked away into the woods, not turning back. Elysia stared at him until he was invisible, then picked up her broom and started sweeping.

~~~~~Six Months Later~~~~~~


“Elysia! Welcome home!” Roy shouted joyously as Al pulled up to the house. There had been a marked change in Elysia, her body was muscular and her eyes glowed darkly with intensity. She turned and looked out the window and managed a small smile as the car stopped and Ed pulled her out. Roy, Ed, Evergreen, Maria, Denny, Winry, and Pinako were there to greet her, along with her childhood antagonizers, Cillian and Corinthian.

“Wow...is this all your hair?” Cil asked as he gently pulled on a strand that wasn’t wrapped around the Katana scabbard.

“You’re so pretty!” Cori yelled, embracing her friend.

“Look at her, she’s a spitting image of Gracia,” Maria whispered to Denny. He nodded in agreement.

Everyone clamored about Elysia, hugging and patting her, overwhelming her with attention. No one noticed the dark skinned man in the large replanted oak tree beside Roy and Ed’s house.

After the party, Elysia went upstairs to the room that was saved for her at the end of the hall between Cil and Cori’s room. She sighed and smiled at the soft goose down bed that had dark green sheets and mauve plush carpeting. She walked to the floor length mirror and unwrapped her long hair from her Katana carefully and began to brush the long locks. She sighed again when the brush was taken from her hands and her hair ever so gently ran over.

“You knew I would follow you,” Scar whispered into Elysia’s ear, making the hairs on her neck stand.

“You wish to possess me and then discard me.” She backed up into him, rubbing her soft ass against his tightening groin. He growled in satisfaction and encircled her waist, turning her around.

“It is true. I wish to possess you, but never to discard you. I love you,” Scar whispered hotly and lowered Elysia to the floor to make love to her.

~~~~~Back in the Bedroom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Honey, why didn’t you answer me?” Elysia poked Scar’s nose, something that she did to annoy him. He sneezed and then gave her a menacing glare, which she laughed at.

“I was thinking about when I first met you in Izumi’s dojo, and when I came to you the night you returned to Central.” Scar kissed Elysia’s cheek apologetically, showing her that she indeed was not forgotten. Elysia nodded and snuggled up to her lover, her friend, her confidant.

“Do you think Dante is still searching for the stone?” Scar sighed. “For Al and Evergreen’s sake, I hope not. Even the Ishbalan gods could not stop that woman.” Scar placed his hand over Elysia’s eyes, urging her to go to sleep.


>Hmmm...I may redo this one...I bet no one thought that this was gonna happen!