The Phoenix Alchemist

Dream

I was surrounded by whiteness again. The gates were shut completely. Al was staring off into space. "Al!" I shouted. He sadly looked over at me and smiled. "How did you get back here? Is brother alright?" I looked around. "Ed is fine. I'm actually asleep on his couch right now. He's going to train me in alchemy so we can bring you back. What I'm wondering is what's wrong with this dream? And, for that matter, my alchemy?" Al looked confused. "What's wrong with your alchemy?" I thought for a second. "I couldn't transmute at first. The electricity apoeared, but no transmutation occured. When I finally managed to do it, the dirt and grass turned into a monster and bit Ed's automail." Al pondered that. "Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you were here, or what you went through in the Truth?" I shrugged. "Whatever it is, I'll work past it and bring you back home. I promise!" A white flash surrounded me and I sat up on the couch, sweaty. Ed was looking very concerned next to me. "What's wrong? You were yelling 'Al!'." I took a deep breath. "I was back at the gates with Al. I'm not sure if it was real, but he seemed to think my problems with my alchemy might be caused by my connection with the gate room or the fact that I can't remember the Truth." Ed rubbed his chin. "That does sound like something Al would say, and it does make sense. But how did you communicate with him?" I shrugged. Ed thought for a moment and the telephone ean. "I'll get it." He picked up the phone. "Fullmetal. Yeah, yeah, I'll be there. Bye." I have a job. An alchemist is wrecking havoc in the middle of the city. Something about earthquakes. You wanna come? It'll be a good time to see two alchemists brawl." I nodded and threw on the jacket I'd come over with.

~

We entered a large cathedral-cathedral-like building. A man with crazy brown hair and a look of insanity was being held at gunpoint on a stage. He held up his hands, showing transmutation circles carved into his palms. A shake rustled the building, breaking my foothold. The man laughed hysterically and rock pierced some of the soldiers, leaving a crimson trail. Edward took off his jacket. "Stay here. I'll take care of this." His red jacket fell to the ground and he transmuted his automail into a sword. "Wow.." I mumbled. Ed charged at the man, but this man was fast. Ed dodged some rocks and minor earthquakes. The man grabbed his arm and flipped him unto the ground when he tried to cut him. Ed grunted and stood back up, jabbing and feinting. The Quake Alchemist hit Ed directly, knocking Ed back, through most of the church. "Ed!" I ran towards him, putting myself in between Ed and the alchemist. "Your girlfriend can't save you now, puny kid." He sent a Shockwave out that crushed a pillar. It fell towards us and I held my arms out, crossed, with my palms up. When the pillar made contact, it held for a moment in my hands, then transmuted into a shield. It spread out, encasing Ed and I in a dome. Earthquakes continued outside, rumbling inside the bubble of rock, but didn't bring it down. Pebbles occasionally fell onto us. I transmuted the shell into steel and reinforced it with the ground as I dug us into the ground. I glanced at the unconscious Ed between transmutations. He blinked a few times as I added a layer to the dome. "The building is going to come down on us. We were almost crushed under a pillar. Seems I did see the Truth after all." The dome gradually shrunk into the ground. As a precaution, I occasionally transmuted the air do we could breathe. Ed was clearly both impressed and sad that his ego had just been shattered. We were about 2/3 underground by the time the building actually collapsed. I heard a car pull up and the doors open. "The Fullmetal alchemist was in there on his mission! Uncover him!" It was the voice from the other side of the phone. Ed stood up and groaned. I ran over to him, putting my hand under his shiulder. He passed out and I transmuted a hole out of the dome, clearing a tunnel. The military was here. I limped with a yet again unconscious Ed and set him down. My leg was sprained, possibly broken. A few soldiers carried him off. The man I identified as phone man walked up to me. "And you are?" I laughed. "Ari. Ed's training me in alchemy." The man laughed. "I'm Colonel Roy Mustang. You've got to have at least some potential if Fullmetal took you on as an apprentice. I mean, you've just saved his life." I smiled. "I'm not so sure about that. I almost got both of us killed, and I owe him. I kinda stopped him from saving Al." Mustang winced. "He gets pretty pissed when people get in between him and his brother. Are you another mysterious childhood friend?" I shook my head, then considered it. "I don't think so. I technically am a friend of Al's, though. Portal buddies. When Ed opened the gate to get Al back, the gate refused to let Al leave and took me instead. I don't have memories to go on with those two- with anyone at all, really." Mustang nodded. "Do you need medical assistance? We have doctors on hand." I shook my head. "Probably just anyone sprain. I pushed myself too hard today. I need to work on my transmutation, though. It was sloppy." He laughed. "I'm still getting a doctor." I sighed and a doctor looked at my leg. "It's broken. We need to wrap it and pop it back into place." I tensed. "Are you sure it's not just spra-" I bit down on my tongue as the doctor popped the bone into place and splinted it. "Definitely broken." He wiped his hands and walked away. I realized my jacket was ripped, so I took it off and laid it down. I placed some cloth next to it and pressed my hands together. I pressed my hands against the cloth and it transmuted in a flash of light. I swung around and put the jacket back on. The crowd of soldiers, doctors, and Mustang stared at me for a minute in disbelief. Even Ed, who was now conscious, was questioning it. I made an 'oops' face and shrugged.