Hiding from Myself (Open)

[Guest]

As he ran, his feet made hollow noises with each smacking note on the ground.

"N-no! Get away from me!"

He would scream out at the top of his lungs with each step.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The sound of approaching footsteps. He couldn't bear it.

"Haah, haah, haah!"

His foot found a root in the ground, and he could all but stop himself from face-planting into the ground.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

No, they were coming! No, no, no, no, nononononononononononononononononononoOOOOOOOOOOOOOoOoOoOOO!

"I WON'T LET YOU KILL ME!"

He sat up suddenly, and his eyes reacted to the low light that came in, filtered by the ragged curtains that barely covered the dirty glass. What was he, a Xingese EMPEROR, doing living in squalor like this? This place... it did not suit one such as him. The man's eyes glowed blue, and he stood up from the bed with a soft sigh. He reached up behind his head, and placed his fingers onto the transmutation circle on his neck, changing his eye color from blue, to a rainbow shimmer.

From then, nothing was hidden before. The Mystic Eyes of DarkVision. They allowed him to see everything that was laid out before him, perfectly. It was as if night had turned to day. He grinned and picked up the metal bar on the bedside table, sliding it into his pocket. This would come in handy. He walked towards the door of his motel room, and then shook his head. Turning away from the door, he walked over to the window. He slid it open silently, and clambered out, jumping down to the East City streets. He landed quietly, and stood up straight with a devious grin on his face.

In case you hadn't realized, this was no longer Saeji Aeries. Well, it was, just something different. He had seen himself about to die. That always triggered it. Even if it was a dream, it would always happen. He stepped out into the streets, studying the few midnight shoppers. There was one. She looked Xingese, she probably knew the language. He smiled softly and seductively, and walked over to her, studying her curves. He grinned, and edged up to her.

"So, come here often, ma'am?" He winked at her - and she recognized his language instantly.

"Oh, you're Xingese? What's your name?" The man reached up behind his head and placed a pair of fingers onto his neck, his eyes suddenly changing color and glowing gold. There was nobody around. This would be over in an instant. The second their eyes locked, he spoke.

"Nanaya."

"AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

---

A burning headache. It was what brought him back. He groaned, and stepped backwards, placing a hand on his temple in an attempt to curb the pain that he felt. He looked up and around. Strange. Why was his Alchemy active? He felt up around his face, and blinked. His glasses. Why wasn't he wearing them? And... he looked down at his right hand. Nanatsuya... it was there, and revealed, covered in a small layer of dripping blood. He felt his heart stop for a second. Blood?

What is the... He stepped back, as if he had answered his own question with the next gaze. He saw red liquid on the ground before him, and his heart restarted, beating a steady drumbeat in his chest. He was going to faint at this rate, his vision was already blurring. He reached up behind his neck, and changed his eyes back from the Mystic Eyes of Enchantment to the Mystic Eyes of DarkVision, and looked down at the pool, and it's source. And instantly wished that he hadn't.

Everywhere. It made him sick. There weren't any recognizable human pieces left. A leg here, a few toes there. Hell, her face was mutilated beyond recognition. It was no longer something that Saeji could call human, and he had to get away from it. The boy turned around sharply, slid the knife back into it's hiding position, and ran away, back to the motel that he had come from. If he could just hide out for the night... He jumped up the fire escape, and flung himself through the window. He closed it, wiped the blade hurriedly, and clambered into his bed. He would go to sleep, let this headache die out, and hope that this was all a bad dream...

THE NEXT MORNING

It had been a simple morning. Ace had gotten up and had a frugal breakfast in a small cafe under his motel. It had been a normal morning, and the thoughts of the previous night's events had not crossed his mind any longer. In fact, he had simply shrugged them off as a bad dream. As he finished his food, he began to notice the abundance of police cars streaming past him, in the reflection of his glasses? Hm? The spoon stayed in his mouth as the young Emperor stood up. He placed the spoon down on the table, left some money, and walked out of the building, staring down the street. There was an abundance of lights - red and blue. That meant that the police were there, but why?

He adjusted his glasses and wandered down the street, pulling a small notebook out of his pocket. Maybe he could learn something? He walked towards the sources of the lights, stepping behind a police officer, who didn't really even notice his presence. But what he saw...

Ba-THUMP. His heart beat heavily in his chest, and he felt his breath leave him. It was...

Ba-THUMP

It is your prey, Saeji. Nononono! He stepped back and closed his eyes tightly. That sickened him. It was the woman from last night. Piece for piece exactly as he remembered it. He didn't kill her! HE DIDN'T KILL HER! A police officer turned towards him, just as he began to run off, footsteps clashing with the ground, now wet with drizzle. The officer shrugged him off as some kid sickened by death, and turned back to his duties. But Saeji continued to run, until he found himself standing beneath a shelter, watching the rain fall through worried eyes. He couldn't tell anyone that he thought that he did it. He just couldn't...

"I'm not a killer..." His voice... was barely a whisper.

[Nyx]

Nyx was running around Amestris as always, doing whatever her little heart desired. the present day, it was to explore East City. It seemed fun, so she wandered around, scavenged wasted food from trash cans, 'borrowed' things people left outside, and other things she enjoyed doing. But then, she heard sirens, and curiously, walked towards them, making sure her wings were folded so no one would really notice them. What she saw when she got there looked a bit weird. Some Xingese woman was sleeping near an ambulance! What if she got run over? Then, Nyx realized she was dead. She gasped lightly, and searched a nearby garden for flowers to put on the body, but by the time she got back, it was gone. So she walked on, towards a random direction. In this random direction, however, she found something, rather someone.

She had no idea who Ace was, but she silently stalked him as he went into some shelter. At his speaking, though to himself, she cocked her head, her eyes big, and her arms clasped behind her back. "So? I'm not a killer either. Are you sad about something? These might help cheer you up!" Nyx smiled as she handed him the flowers she'd collected. She was wondering if he was sad about the woman dying, or maybe he did it or something. But, Nyx was 13, still young, and not very mature for her age anyways, so she didn't really know anything about what he may have been thinking, or really his situation. All she knew was he wasn't a killer, apparently, and he looked upset.

[Guest]

BUMP

[Guest]

Spoiler:

The rain that had begun to come down was just another bright spot to the Xingese girl that was skipping down the street as if there weren't a care in the world, a faint melody floating upon the air. Jeu-Hee was humming happily to herself, not seeming to really care that she was slowly getting soaked. She had come here on business originally, investigating certain matters of state with East City and Xing. For now, that business was concluded and she wasn't quite going to head back home just yet even though she did want to see her parents soon. They were so proud of her new position! Secretly though, she knew that they were worried about it at the same time. Sometimes ambassadors got kidnapped, or attacked, or something. As always, she told them that she'd be fine! And so far, she was! She began to walk with rather exaggerated motions, such as her arms sweeping up just a bit too high like her legs.

The smile on her lips faltered slightly as she noticed the bright lights of the police cars, her green eyes peering down the street to where the caution tape blocked off the way. Huh. That was rather strange. She didn't let her curiosity get the better of her, no siree! Let the police deal with their matters, it was no concern of hers right now. Humming once more, her long, dark brown hair hung in a rather loose braid down her back. The tip swished by the back of her thighs, spinning about as the droplets from the sky rolled down her face. Mmm, the rain was so lovely!!! It really was. Ooo, maybe she should go to an arboretum and see if they had some water lilies! That would be......

Jeu-Hee slowed in her step as she noticed a girl talking to someone who was clearly hiding in a shelter, purposefully leaning a bit too far forward so she could see who it was..... And she caught herself rather heavily upon her next step as her eyes widened. That... Saeji? Her boss? Here? What in the world was he doing here? She found her feet carrying her over to the pair, walking pretty normally as opposed to earlier. Smiling to the girl, it made her happy to see her trying to comfort him, but.... Her green eyes turned back to her Emperor and her expression softened. She had never seen him so shaken up before. Kneeling before Saeji, she touched her right fist to her heart before straightening up, not caring that the front of her right leg was now wet from the pavement. Her emperor needed someone, she could do that. For now, just play it smooth. She could do that!

"Greetings sir, can I offer you a tune? Or maybe a place to go to get out of the rain?" She spoke to Saeji first, acting normally in the hopes that a familiar face that offers its kindness would be a comfort of sorts. Then her gaze turned to the girl, tilting her head slightly as she guessed that she spoke Amestrian. "And greetings to you miss. Could I offer you a tune as well? Or perhaps a place to go to get out of the rain?" The transition between languages was fluid and easy, the appropriate accent following each that she spoke. She sounded like a native no matter what she spoke, and it was a fact that she had prided herself on. It had taken years to perfect that so it was a great source of self-accomplishment. The rain's toll upon the state of her clothes and body was beginning to show as her clothes and hair steadily began to cling to her. Meh! Rain was awesome! She did not mind in the least, what mattered right now was making sure Saeji was ok.

[Guest]

More prey? He looked up slowly and saw her. The girl standing before him. He closed his eyes and rubbed them, before staring. Why was he staring? He adjusted his glasses slightly, and tried to reach for his notebook. Maybe this would tell him how to react in a situation where your mind was telling you that you had to kill someone, and you didn't want to.

"So? I'm not a killer either. Are you sad about something? These might help cheer you up!" He blinked and looked at the girl through his glasses with a small smile on his face. Those were some pretty flowers. Red, red flowers. Redredredredred! He staggered back. Red like blood. Red like the blood all over that road last night.

Red like the blood of the woman you killed.

"That wasn't me..." He shook his head and looked back at the girl, trying to force a smile. They were such pretty flowers, but the color reminded him of blood. So he couldn't help but hate them. Because the sight of blood was bad. Badbadbad! He didn't like the sight of it. It made him feel sick inside. And he didn't enjoy feeling sick. Not this sort of sick. Because...

What's wrong, Saeji? Because of that. The voice in his head. That chilling voice that always seemed to come to him whenever he hit a moment of weakness like that...

"Greetings sir, can I offer you a tune? Or maybe a place to go to get out of the rain?" A voice rang out in Xingese, and he looked up to see a young lady walking towards him. Oh, it was Zairen's replacement. What was her name? The young man tried to think it through, wondering what it was. It took him a few seconds before he smiled with a pained look in his eyes, sweating slightly.

"Jeu-Hee." That was it. He didn't need to refer to his notebook for that one, for once. He remembered who she was, and that was certainly good. However, that was the least of his problems right now. Knowing that she could speak Amestrian as well, he automatically switched his mind to that language.

"What are you doing in East City, Jeu-Hee?" The young emperor blinked a few times, tilting his head to the side with a smile on his face and closed eyes.

[Nyx]

Nyx frowned slightly as he spoke in Xingese, replying to her gesture. She didn't speak the language so she had no clue what he'd said. Maybe she should see if someone could teach her... As she quizzed upon this thought to herself, a strange lady walked up to them, smiling at her, and speaking. She smiled up at her, and grinned at her questions. "A tune? What kind? Do you have an instrument, or is it singing?" She smiled, hoping it would cheer the man up. He looked sad, so maybe where her flowers didn't work, music would. That was almost guaranteed. Then, she thought about something else, again on her not knowing Xingese. How did they both know Xingese but she didn't? It couldn't be that hard, could it? Maybe when the man was happier, she'd ask if he could teach her, or she could ask the nice lady. Looking back at her, grinning, she waved. "Oh yeah, my name is Nyx! Nice to meet you, ma'am!"

[Guest]

Wow, the emperor really was within quite a state! This.... really concerned her. But Jeu-Hee merely kept up that warm smile and brightness that always seemed to radiate from her. Just toned down a bit is all. At least he smiled, that was an improvement right? She wanted to just pull him into a hug and hold him, tell him that things would work out in some way and that no one could see where that was going to go. She suspected, however, that physical contact might not help so she remained where she was for the moment. "At your service sir!" She saluted with a bright smile and a giggle, the sound reminiscent of sweet bells jingling upon a warm spring breeze.

She let his question sit as the girl spoke up, her enthusiasm causing Jeu-Hee's smile to widen. "It do be singing. As for the tune, whatever pops into my head first." She grinned and chuckled since she had, and hadn't, planned that far yet. She'd cross that bridge when she came to it. Waving back, she bowed her head to Nyx without the formality really within the motion. Quite frankly it was rather fluid and... bouncy. "A pleasure Nyx. I'm Jeu-Hee."

Taking a deep breath, she turned back to her leader and shrugged lightly as if she wasn't sure. "Oh you know, there was some business to do here for Xing and well... I just haven't left quite yet! Tee hee~" The giggle that just flowed from her wasn't forced, or fake, it just was there. Even she wasn't positively sure where all of her positive energy came from, but she wasn't going to complain! She told herself it was from the good karmic energy that she spread out into the world. That sounded best. Reigning in her cheerful nature, she realized it could be becoming overbearing and that was not going to help. "What brings you here Saeji? Or um..." She seemed to pause at the face of formality, but let it slide. He didn't really care about that stuff, right? .....right? Oh well, if she made a boo-boo, she'd find out shortly.

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