I spent the next morning at the library. Grabbing some large books on the subject of bio-alchemy, I took a seat a rectangular wood table and began to read up on the subject. I'd finished 2 books by the time Felicia showed up. I didn't need to look up from the book to tell that the homunculus had sat down next to me. "Yamato, we need to speak." She stated in a voice just above a whisper. I picked up the two books that I'd already finished, and proceeded to the shelves that I found them on.

"About what?" I asked as I carried the tomes, not looking directly at her.

"About what happened last night." She replied, beginning to blush. I could feel my face heat up from the mention of that event.

"What happened last night seems pretty clear to me." I stated, putting the book Dr. Bennett's Guide to Bio-Alchemy back in its original spot. I wanted to put the entire incident behind me.

"Obviously, you're getting the wrong idea. Especially since you refuse to even look me in the eyes." She persisted.

"It's a bit difficult to blame me. It wasn't exactly the best scene for me to walk in on." I retorted.

"And here I thought that most guys would like to see an attractive woman in that sort of position." She sarcastically replied.

"Don't take me for some kind of pervert." I requested indignantly.

"So… why are you reading all these books on bio-alchemy?" She asked, changing the subject.

"I was trying to find some information on the soul transmutations that you were talking about, but none of them had even mentioned it. On an unrelated note, I did learn the elemental composition of a human."

"Well of course you won't find it in any of these books. It's something only a few alchemists know." She stated as though it were common knowledge.

"So how am I going to use it if no one here can teach me it?"

"Hello…" she pointed at herself.

"I thought you couldn't perform alchemy."

"I can't, but I learned from someone who can." I couldn't help but wonder why the creator of a homunculus would know how to bind souls, but decided against asking Felicia, deciding to remember that tidbit of information for later.

"So where do I start?" I asked the homunculus who seemed to have an answer for everything.


I stared at the paper with a transmutation circle drawn on it, which sat on the table in front of me. It was an extremely complicated array. There were 2 complete circles that had the base angles of four triangles lying on the outermost ring and the other last point sticking outside the circle. In the center portion of the array, lay two limiting symbols, the 8-sided star that represented creation and three symbols that Felicia explained their meanings in the reaction to me. "So, is this the circle?" I asked, inspecting the array.

"Yep," Felicia proudly answered. I was glad that I convinced her to come back to Cynthia's apartment. She nearly got us kicked out of the library trying to explain the concept to me, and I did not want to get banned from that library.

"So what do I do? Do I put it on my glove or what?"

"You can draw it on whatever your binding you soul to, but it'll save a lot of time if you just put it on your glove." She clarified. "The time limit is significantly shorter when it isn't used as an anchoring point." Taking her advice, I copied the complex array by transmuting some of the ball I took from Liore into a needle and sewed the design into the back of the glove. All that was left was to give the circle a test run. Taking the ball and needle, I transmuted them into a small snake, which was separated into countless smaller sections that were covered by scales. I made certain that the serpent was hollow save for a skeletal system, which mimicked that of an actual snake and connected to each piece. I wanted it to be as close to the real thing as possible. I gave the serpent a light tap with the back of my gloved hand, and with a small flash of light… nothing happened. I turned my creation over in my hands, finding that almost nothing had changed. I stopped when I took a look at the face. The snake's eyes were glowing a faint red, before they dimmed out completely. It wasn't much, but it showed that Felicia knew what she was talking about. I gave it another go, receiving the same result. Whatever was supposed to happen wasn't.

"Trying focusing on putting your soul into it. Like a reactant in a normal transmutation. I would think that you'd know how to do that." She suggested. I took a deep breath in preparation to perform the reaction.

"What is a soul? It's what makes someone who they are, their very being. It's the spark of life, in a way." I contemplated, before attempting the transmutation a third time. The small serpent began to move. The sections, which were hidden by the countless scales that formed the surface, moved so that the snake took a coiled position as though it were about to strike. The head snapped in my direction, the normally empty holes where the eyes would have been, now housed a red glowing sphere. The 'eyes' appeared to blink and the serpent made a sound similar to a person's mumbling, before the energy disappeared and it became lifeless once more.

"Look at that, it seems that you aren't completely incompetent, after all." It was the closest thing to a compliment that I've heard from her. I flashed a smile at her.

"I'll take whatever I can get."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked indignantly.

"That's the closest you've been to saying something positive about me." I replied, with a laugh.

"Shut up!" She attempted to punch me in the face. Having expected it, I caught her hand.

"If your opponent has a short temper, seek to infuriate them." I informed her, before letting go. I shook my hand trying to rid myself of the pain that racked my palm.

"I'm stronger than I look." She retorted, quite proud of herself.

"Duly noted." I stated. "Putting your violent tendencies aside, I wanted to know why you decided on me for this endeavor. You could have easily found someone better suited for it."

"I did attempt the same thing with a few other people. There were some 'conflicts' that we couldn't settle and they fell apart. So far, you've the only one who's been able to…"

"Tolerate you for this long?" I guessed, finishing her sentence for her.

"Yeah…" She agreed, sounding a little resentful of it.

"So they didn't even know that you weren't human?" She shook her head, in response. I always try to put my faith in humanity, but how is it that I'm the only one so far that has been able to deal with this girl. I mean I know that she can be a pain in the ass, but really? In my opinion, that's pretty disappointing.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to quit." I reassured her, attempting the transmutation again. "I always uphold my side of a deal."


It was late in the evening by the time Cynthia had returned. Immediately after walking through the front door, she collapsed on the couch. Which brought up a question to my attention. "Is being a lieutenant that tiring?" I asked the military official who was resting on the sofa, as I sat with my legs crossed on the floor. She held up a medal from her uniform as though she were inspecting the badge.

"Of course it is, but I love the job nonetheless." Cynthia replied with a smile, letting the metal fall back onto her chest. "Although, it would be nice if there was less paperwork, though." She didn't continue to speak about the abundant amount of paperwork, instead she turned her attention to the serpent that I'd spent most of the day fiddling with. Now the serpent lay motionless on the table in middle of the room, still coiled up in the striking position. "What's up with the snake?" She asked, apparently intrigued by its existence.

"Just a little something I was working on for the upcoming examinations." I replied.

"Ah, well it's good to see that you're not just sitting around all day." She let out a loud sigh. "And it's good to see that you're doing something." She added. It was then, that I caught hold of the smell of alcohol.

"Are you drunk?" I inquired.

"Maybe-" She replied, beginning to slur her words. "I went out for a drink with um…" I could practically see the smoke leaving her ears, as she racked her brain trying to remember who she was with. "It was Rosalia, that's who! I went out for a drink with her after work, though she didn't drink that much."

"Good, for a moment I was worried that the government was being run by irresponsible drunks." Felicia joked, from the chair on the other side of the table.

"Ay… I'm not that… I-I'm not that drunk." She denied. Her words just got less and less intelligible the more she spoke. "Come ere' girl. I-I'll prove it." I could easily see her poorly hidden smirk.

"Nah, I'll just take your word for it." Felicia answered, denying Cynthia's drunken request. Cynthia threw her feet over the front of the couch, forcing herself to sit up. She kept trying to put her hand on my head, which I avoided until she actually succeeded, which was a few attempts after I stopped caring.

"Aww, you're no funnnn…" She lamented, rubbing my head, much to my discomfort. "Good boy…" she muttered and that was about all I had of it. I am certain that she believed me to be a dog at that moment in time. I waited until she stood up and I backed out of her reach, causing her to fall to the ground. This time without any assistance she shakily got to her feet, leaning profoundly to her right.

"Maybe you should get some sleep." I suggested, hoping to get her in bed and not acting like this. I didn't really wish to see the drunken antics of this woman… or Felicia either. But, hopefully I won't have to see the homunculus doing such a thing.

"Fine, but only if Felicia comes with me." Cynthia requested.

"No!" The homunculus answered immediately.

"Aww, you're no funnn…" She repeated, staggering down the hall while holding her hand against the wall to keep from falling again. I watched as she struggled to open the door and stumble inside, the door clicking shut behind her. I let out an audible sigh as soon as the door had shut.

"You should go to bed, too." I suggested to the homunculus.

"Um… Yamato?" I turned to see Felicia, standing in beside the coffee table. "Can I ask you to do something?" She asked, her face turning red. I didn't particularly like where this was headed.

"Well, this isn't quite as bad as I had expected." I quietly stated from my seat on the front of the door to the room where Felicia slept. The homunculus had requested that I blocked the door. When I asked for a reason why, she stated that if something like before happened again, she would probably murder Cynthia. All in all, it would be bad if we were suspects in a murder investigation. So, I did as she requested and took up guard in front of her door. I ended up spending the night sitting in front of a door in a dark hallway, guarding someone who could easily kill maybe even the Führer if she wanted to from a woman who's probably too drunk to walk, much less figure out how to unlock and easily lockable door. I somehow find myself in these strange situations because of Felicia, and yet I continue to follow her orders. No wonder they keep referring to me as a dog, I keep taking their orders like one. Considering my goal though, is that a good thing or a bad thing?


"So what are you going to make?" Felicia asked, following behind me carrying 2 large bags full of metal pieces. I shifted the bags that was hanging on my shoulders, which was filled with metal as well. We'd spent most of the day collecting the raw material from some auto mail mechanics in the area. Most of them where more than happy to be rid of their scrap metal.

"Hmm?" I asked, checking on the girl behind me.

"What are you going to make from this? I know that an alchemist wouldn't just buy a bunch of raw material for no reason."

"Oh, well with the examinations nearing I thought it best that I plan out how I'm going to demonstrate my alchemy. Long story short, while the soul binding transmutation is useful in many cases, unless I have a strong material it won't be of much good, auto mail is made from really strong alloys which is why I decided on using the mechanics' leftover parts. I'm not just going to carry around a bunch of scrap metal though, I'm going to create a puppet of sorts. I'm not sure exactly what it'll be though. My first thought would be a snake-"

"Well that's a shocker." She muttered sarcastically.

"As I was saying, originally it was supposed to be a snake but that obviously wouldn't work well for combat uses. So I'm throwing around some ideas as to what it should be."

"What about a suit of armor?"

"No… a suit of armor made from this would be too big to take long distances. I was thinking smaller, maybe a large quadruped."

"Like a dog?" I gave it a thought, deciding that a wolf would probably work. A dog wouldn't be menacing enough, in my opinion. We certainly have enough materials already, the size wouldn't be as much as a hassle as anything human-sized, and it would definitely be capable of much better movement than a serpent. All in all, it was a pretty good idea. Plus I would love to be able to send a massive wolf made from metal, armed with sharp claws and spikes at an enemy. I'm almost certain that it would terrify any person on the receiving end of it. I definitely giving it a shot.

"Hey…" I began catching on. "You suggested that because of my career choice, didn't you?"

"What? No… what would make you think that?" She sarcastically asked. Soon we reached the apartment and I began to lay out multiple papers on the floor, drawing a circle identical to the one on my gloves and large enough to encompass all the parts that were to be placed on the sheets. I made certain that they laid out in the way I would put them together. I closed my eyes, and ran all the calculations through my head once again. After confirming that they were in fact correct, I began the transmutation. Light flashed from the parts as they took form of their intended part, and the parts then put themselves together creating the intended whole. The light diminished, allowing me to inspect my handiwork. It had turned out better than I'd expected. The skull had lacked ears, but had the razor-sharp teeth aligned on the bottom of the skull, touching the row of teeth that were attached to the bottom jaw which was attached by a large flat head screw to the cheek area on both sides. The torso had dull steel that stuck out of the back of the reinforced frame, resembling turfs of fur. The tail had was like the torso but thinner, appearing to be longer than the torso and the end resembled a spear head. The legs had much lesser detail in dull steel plates and taking the traditional look of auto mail. All of the parts had microfibers running from the limbs to the torso, helping to keep them in their settings.

I picked up the front leg, experimentally bending its knee and ankle. I lightly poked the tip of one of the 3 large claws that protruded from its 'paw,' pulling away my index finger with a small stream of blood running down where I'd accidentally stabbed myself. The claws would probably be bane of many a floor. It appeared to be exactly as I wanted, but the only way to know for certain would be to attempt to bind my soul to it. I removed the head and using my bloodied finger, I drew the circle that Felicia showed me on the inside of chest. I didn't intend to do that, but it worked in my favor so I didn't pay any mind to the minor pain. I took a deep breath and put the back of my glove on the torso, giving it a piece of my soul. I had been practicing diligently and was steadily increasing the amount of time the transmutation would last, the longest of which was only a couple minutes. The puppet came to life, lifting itself onto its legs. The holes where its eyes belong gave off a faint red light. It experimentally lifted each individual leg and gave its tail a test swing, as well. Its jaw opened and closed with a loud clang.

"The jaw is a little loose." It spoke, without moving the apparently slack jaw. It walked forward, albeit a little wobbly. It wasn't used to the new body. Taking an extra piece of metal and transmuting it into a makeshift screwdriver and used it to tighten the screws in each side of the jaw.

"How's that?" I asked, as the puppet tested its jaw again.

"Better." The wolf replied. "Everything else is-" it didn't finish its sentence as its head fell of and it collapsed on the ground, the transmutation having worn off. I couldn't help but laugh a little to cover my embarrassment.

"It seems the transmutation is still a work in progress." I stated. Felicia walked over to my fallen creation and lifted it onto her shoulder with seemingly no effort on her part. She then began to carry it out of the room, walking right past me. "What are you doing?" I asked following her into the hallway.

"I'm taking it up to the roof." She stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh the roof…" it took me longer than I'd like to admit to register what she'd said. "The roof? Why the roof?" I asked a bit worried as to her intention.

"We're going to spar. Me, you, and you." She gestured to the heap of metal on her shoulder when she mentioned it last. She opened the door to the roof that I followed her towards and dropped the puppet on the roof, much to my chagrin. "Come on, I'm only giving you five seconds and even that might be too long." She warned me, taking up position several yards away from me. I took a quick look at the almost completely bare roof, which held only a couple of pipes on the far edge. Luckily the roof was quite spacious so I didn't have to worry too much about falling. I quickly ran over to my construct and transmuted a small portion of my soul into it. It got to its feet faster this time, and got into a stance as though it were about to pounce. It may have only been the first strike, but Felicia didn't hold back. I easily jumped out of the way, but my puppet didn't. As it began to move, I heard a loud snap and it fell ungracefully on its face. The homunculus was upon it before it could move out of the way, and she slammed into it. I cringed when Felicia hit it, having expected the wolf to end up completely destroyed. What I saw was something I hadn't expected. The wolf had its harpoon-like tail out in front of it, impaling Felicia right through where her heart was. I almost had a heart attack. I thought that I had killed her. Apparently the part of me I put in the wolf had the same thought, and it began to attempt to remove its tail.

"Hold still." I told it, as I ran to their aid. I grabbed the end pointed end of the tail, and ripped it away from the rest of the tail. The puppet removed what was left of its tail and got away from Felicia. I was about to check her wound, when she spoke.

"Calm down, I'm okay." She requested, seemingly confused by my panicked reaction.

"No you aren't there's a giant-" I stopped when I noticed the perfect red sphere that resided in place of her heart, completely unharmed by the incident. I even got to witness the bones and muscle tissue regenerating around the wound. I breathed a sigh of relief. I was completely convinced I had murdered her, although Felicia wasn't angered by that. I still could feel the malice that permeated the air around her.

"You tore a hole in my favorite shirt!" she shouted, grabbing me by the head and throwing me across the roof with inhuman strength. I barely managed to catch the side of the building to stop myself from plummeting to the ground. I grabbed the edge with my other hand and pulled myself up.

"You almost killed me!" I shouted, now safely not dangling over the side of a building.

"If that would have killed you, then you don't deserve to live." She replied.

"You over estimate the ability of the human body to not splatter all over a sidewalk when it falls from several floors off the ground." I stated. "Geez to think that I was worried about you." I watched as my puppet limped over to me, holding the left front leg off the ground, bringing dismembered tail over to me for reconnection. I thanked it and used alchemy to reattach the limb. I then took a look at the paw. "Oops. I connected the feet wrong." I stated, as I inspected the limb. The outside was fairly sound, but the supports that connected the inside were torn off. I was surprised the limb hadn't fallen off yet. I began to reconnect the feet, this time by hand to prevent anymore avoidable mistakes. I had managed to fix the first foot by the time the transmutation had worn off and the soulless shell collapsed.

"Argh, there's a hole in the back of my shirt too." Felicia lamented. "You're going to fix this." She told me.

"Sure, after I'm finished fixing my puppet's feet." I replied, opening the other foot in the front to fix the inner supports.

"No, you'll fix it now." She ordered.

"I choose the blame you for that." I stated.

"No it's obviously your fault. If you hadn't stabbed me, my shirt would be just fine." She retorted, holding the hole in the fabric shut.

"As it turns out, when the transmutation wears off, I get the memories from the soul that was put in the puppet. I couldn't move out of the way, and I had a moment of panic when it felt like you'd kill me, so I attempted to stop you." I replied, placing a piece into place and using alchemy to meld the two pieces together.

"That still makes it your fault." She countered, quite proud that she won the argument.

"Whatever… if you want me to fix your shirt, I'm going to need you to take it off." I stated, watching my comment take immediate effect as her face turned bright red.

"What?! Why?!"

"Because the transmutation circle on my gloves aren't designed to transmute cloth. I would need to draw up a circle for it, and place the shirt, minus you, in it. Which is why I decided to take care of that later." I explained, shutting the second leg and moving on to the third. "So unless you have something on underneath that, I will not be fixing it out here." After that, I finished fixing the puppet and went back to Cynthia's apartment, where Felicia went into the guest room and hid in there while I fixed her shirt, before leaving it outside the door for her to retrieve while I double checked my puppet for flaws. For as overconfident as Felicia is, it can be really easy to embarrass her.


Just so you know, I went back and fixed Felicia's description from the 1st chapter. I also drew an image of what she looks like. Just remove the spaces from the following link. fav. me/ d7h4wlr