The Phoenix Alchemist

State Alchemist

I sighed and willed the fire to extinguish itself. Smoke curled around me. I could imagine Ed facepalming right now. A few guards raised their guns at me and I put my hands up. The Führer put his hand on a man's gun and they all lowered theirs. "Do not shoot this talented young lady. She has just saved my life." One of the attackers reached his hand up towards the Führer, so I stomped on his hand and held up my finger to the Führer. I put my right hand over my left and transmuted the ground to surround the attackers in a rock prison. The crowd of people were now clapping. I let out a deep breath.

~

'Arielle _ State Alchemist Certification Examination: Passed'

I smiled and looked down at the paper. Mustang was smirking and handed me a silver watch. I thanked him and walked outside to Ed. "What did you pull off in order to get accepted?" He asked. I smiled. "You may have saved an alchemist's life, but I saved the Führer's life." He gaped. "What happened?" I shrugged. "A group of totally not suspicious men dressed in black were moving close to him and almost bashed his head in, so I simply defended him. And then caught on fire." He sighed. "What's your new second name?" I laughed. "'The Phoenix Alchemist, Arielle.' Now I don't need a last name, I can be 'The Phoenix Alchemist' or Arielle Phoenix." He laughed and patted me on the back. I put the watch on my belt. "We should get home." He nodded and we drove home.

~

"Hey! Do you have some extra cloth lying around?" I asked. Ed nodded and brought out some red fabric. I laughed. "Of course you do. I'm going to extend my coat some." He smiled and I took off my coat. In a flash of blue light, the coat transformed into a longer black coat with a red marking on the back. It was seven stars with two flaming wings on the sides. I smiled and put it on. I relaxed my back and my wings extended under the coat. "Much better. Thanks." I edited it so it had a notch in the back so, worst case scenario, I could extend my wings and fly. It was covered by some extra fabric, though, so my feathers didn't show. A sharp, uniform knock at the door informed us that the Colonel was here. Ed opened the door. "Hey, Fullmetal. Is Phoenix here?" He nodded and let Mustang in. "What do you need, Sparky?" He smirked. "Don't call me Sparky. You have a mission in the North. A few homunculi have been spotted in the North. You're on a mission to gather Intel on them and take them down. Fullmetal will be supervising you and helping." I held my breath for a moment, considering the mission. I remembered Lust pointing her sharp finger to Winry's head. "Edward can't directly travel with me. Send him in later and separately. We have to be discreet." Mustang nodded and gave me a packet of information. He left soon after, with Ed fuming. "Why are you refusing to travel with me?" He asked. My face was grim, remembering poor Winry covered in blood and screaming. I blinked a few times trying to wash the image out of my head. "I have my reasons. It's for your safety and hers." He looked confused. I cursed. "I've already said too much. To be honest, it'd be better if you didn't come, but right now it's your job to supervise and you're the only one I trust. Can you try to trust me on this?" I asked and sighed. "You want me to trust you? You're seriously asking me to trust you?" I nkdded. "Do you?" He blushed and scratched the back of his hwad. "Well, yeah, but.. that's besides the point! It's a ridiculous thing to ask!" I laughed and scratched the top of his head. "Looks like your fuse isn't the only thing that's short." He waved his arms and I leaned my elbow on his head. "Don't call me chibi!" I chuckled and started reading the packet. "We leave tomorrow for the North City Headquarters. I leave in the morning, you leave in the afternoon. Different stations and different routes. We will rendezvous every two days and share intel. You're in charge of sending that intel back to base and serving as backup." He angrily nodded and we packed. I packed a small bag and we used some scraps of cloth to upgrade our coats into winter cloaks. I yawned and we both changed into our sleeping shirts: tank tops. "Goodnight. Remember, you have the 5 o'clock train at Central Station." He yawned. "Yeah, yeah. Go to bed." I laughed and went to bed.