The Phoenix Alchemist

Healing

Mustang was really confused and misunderstandedly pissed. "Fullmetal, you never told us you could teach people to transmute without a circle!?" I sensed a rivalry. "That's because I didn't teach her! She came from the other side!" I held out my hands in surrender. "Even Ed isn't that good of a teacher, though I couldn't transmute at all yesterday. The only one I successfully transmuted tried to take off his hand." I just kinda held out my hands, and poof, the pillar was forming a shield around us. And it just came naturally after that." Mustang walked over to Ed and me. "We need to discuss this somewhere more private." Ed nodded and we went to the hospital for Ed. We talked in the hospital room. "So, what exactly happened?" Mustang asked. I sighed and started explaining. "I woke up in a white room, that was empty besides the two gates- our world and the other one. Al was there. Apparently, I had been unconscious since he had arrived. So we spent an hour or two getting to know each other, and then we tried opening the gate by ourselves. I saw the Truth, the infinite knowledgeable being thing, but got thrown back into the room. We waited by the door for a while, and Ed opened the portal. I helped Al walk towards it, because he was too weak, and the shadow hands pushed him away and pulled me in. I landed next to Edward, and then I started working on alchemy to bring Al back." Mustang rubbed his chin. "Did he say anything particular? Or strange?" I shrugged. "He told me about Lust. When I saw the Truth, I couldn't remember what I'd seen. Only the face of a woman he determined was Lust. Otherwise, his name was Alphonse Elric, his brother was coming for him, and he'd been there for two months." Ed paused. "His soul returned almost a year ago. Not two months ago." I shrugged again. "I bet it was his calculation. Maybe, though, time passes differently in the gate room. Ed, you could've spent hours in the portal, and it seemed like minutes." Ed scratched his head. "That makes sense. By the way, next time you see him in your dreams or whatever, tell him happy birthday. It was a day ago." I sighed. "On the day you brought me back." He nodded. Mustang spoke up. "Wait, what about your dreams?" I laughed. "Oh, yeah, we forgot to tell you. When I fall asleep, my mind goes back to the gate room. I get to talk with Al from there." He sighed. "This is so complicated. What're you planning on doing now? Besides get Al back." I leaned back. "Well, I'm going to find out who I am and where I came from. Besides the gate. I know I'm not from the other world, though. I'm from this world. This side of the gate is familiar to me. When I caught the pillar and transmuted it, I held it for a moment. I didn't get crushed. I didn't do the clap thing that Ed does, or put my hands In that pattern like the other alchemists. I just crossed my arms and it happened. Like this," I put my right hand over my left hand and thought about transmutating the chair. Sure enough, a flash of lightning later I was on the floor. The chair had become a stool. I sat back down. "As I was saying, I need to find out. It's not my main priority, though, but I think I'll be able to pick up some answers along the way.

~

The power flickered and shut off. "Great. A power outage. I'll light some candles." Mustang pulled out some candles from a cabinet and lit them. Something in me changed. I saw a healthy looking Al with Ed. Ed had his arm and leg. They hugged each other, crying in joy. I blinked a few times and noticed my stool was on the floor. I picked it up and sat back down.the candlelight lit the room and the stormy sky. After a while, the storm passed and the electricity came back on. Mustang decided to head home. "See ya. Try not to die." I was light headed and dizzy. As he started to leave, he reminded us to douse the candles. I licked my finger, and when I went to extinguish the flame, I convulsed in pain. I screamed out and started coughing up blood. "Ari? Are you okay?!" Ed asked. He couldn't see me sprawled on the floor from his bed. I wiped the blood from my mouth and used the table to help me stand. "Yeah-h... Just slipped." I fell to my knees, coughing up more blood. "Ari!" Ed yelled. Blood drained from my mouth. I lay motionless on the floor. Suddenly, after a moment of relief, an agonizing pain tore through my back. I finally lost consciousness, where I met Al once again.