Author's Note: Once again I'd like to apologize for the lack of updates. School is a terrible thing and I swear it's infringing upon my eighth amendment rights. / So, as an apology, here's a picture of your favourite slacker: zolf615. deviantart .com/art/Second-Lieutenant-Takeshi-144743764 Now that you finally have a mental image, enjoy this next chapter. :3

Alchemy

Tuesday, November 17, 1914

Thump!

Genna sat up abruptly as a heavy object was slammed down on the table beside her head. Looking down, she saw a thick book encased in leather set before her, its pages yellow with age and so thin it seemed as though they would tear under the tiniest amount of pressure. The lieutenant blinked and turned her gaze upward to find Kimbley smiling down at her.

"Good morning, Lieutenant. You weren't sleeping, were you?" he asked with a small chuckle.

"N-no! Of course not!" Genna replied instantly, using every ounce of willpower she had to resist the urge to yawn widely. "Did you need something from me?"

"Yes, actually." said Kimbley. "I'd like you to do me a favour. I have so much work to do today as a Lieutenant Colonel, so I have absolutely no time to be working as a state alchemist." He removed his hand from the cover of the book to reveal the title. "Do you think you could be so kind as to take a few notes for me?"

Genna read the fancy script on the book's casing and raised her eyebrows at Kimbley. "'Basic Alchemy'? Excuse me, but I doubt a state alchemist would be worrying about the basics."

"On the contrary, Lieutenant, you can never learn too much of the basics." The man smiled more before handing Genna some paper and a pen. "You can start from the beginning of the book."

The lieutenant frowned down at the book and then back up at Kimbley. He laughed at her look before turning away and heading back toward his own desk.

"Think of it this way," he told her. "It will relieve you from regular paperwork!"

Genna scowled, but she had to admit that writing down a few notes was a lot more exciting than her regular duties. Heaving a sigh, she opened the book and flipped to the first page. It was covered in tiny blocks of text with a picture of a simplistic transmutation circle in the corner. She had to suppress a groan upon seeing the loads of information on the single sheet of paper. Her head was already beginning to ache.

Why did he give me this job, anyway? thought the lieutenant moodily and she began to read. It was then that she recalled the conversation she had held with Kimbley the day before. Is he trying to get me to learn alchemy again?! What the hell does he want from me, anyway?

Sneaking a glare at her boss, she considered the possibilities. Why would he want her to learn alchemy? There didn't really seem to be any reason for it; being an alchemist himself, there wasn't anything Genna could do with alchemy that Kimbley couldn't do better by himself. Unless… Kimbley worked for the homunculi… Maybe the homunculi needed another alchemist? But if that were the case, surely they would choose from the endless amounts of state alchemists who actually know what they're doing instead of an ordinary soldier with the occasional tendency to slack off.

Emphasis on the ordinary, not so much the slacking off.

"Circles… formulas… ki… Blah, blah, blah." Genna mumbled to herself as she jotted down a few bullets. "How do alchemists put up with reading all of this boring crap? Sheesh…"

None of this was making any sense to the lieutenant, anyway. All she saw were circles with weird looking symbols drawn on the inside of them. Even as she copied the pictures and wrote down their meanings, she couldn't even begin to remember even the simplest bits. There was a good reason she had picked the military over school.

…Not that she really had much of a choice either way, but if she had to pick again, the boring military sure beat the hell out of school. Sciences, math, history, who needed any of it? And alchemy especially- all alchemy did was blow crap up and take jobs away from those who preferred a bit of elbow grease. Whatever happened to the good ol' days, when people did their own work instead of relying on magicians to fix stuff up? Genna didn't need all of this fancy science to know how to fix something that's broken. As long as you know how a thing is supposed to look when it's working, it's easy to use a few tools and one's own hands to repair it…

"Aren't you working, Lieutenant?"

Genna jumped as her mind was suddenly dragged back to the conscious world. She had fallen asleep in the book with her pen still in her hand, held ready to write. Holding in a groan, she looked up to find Kimbley standing over her again, wearing a disapproving countenance.

"Really, now, what am I going to do with you? I can't have you constantly sleeping on the job." he told her, crossing his arms.

"This alchemy stuff's boring." Genna explained in her defence, glaring at the book. "Can I help it if it puts me to sleep?"

Kimbley sighed, picked up at the book and quickly read over the displayed pages before closing it and setting it down. "Well, I suppose you've done enough for today. Perhaps some field work will perk you up."

"Field work?"

"I just got a call about some chimera running loose in the city that I have been asked to take care of. I'll be needing backup, just in case." the alchemist explained with a smile.

"Don't the police do anything anymore?" grumbled Genna, pushing herself to her feet. "Fine. I'll come."

"Good. Now, let's be off before those chimera can cause too much damage."

---

Genna and Kimbley had been walking through the city for a while now, and presently Genna was beginning to wonder if her boss had any idea of where he was going at all. She had long since lost track of their location; this part of Central was totally foreign to her. And no wonder! The buildings in this part looked run down, and the people who walked through the streets seemed a bit sketchy. The second lieutenant had probably been subconsciously avoiding this creepy corner.

"Where are these chimera, anyway?" she asked impatiently, nervously glancing about her. "Do you even know where we're going?"

"Have some patience, Lieutenant, we're nearly there." Kimbley assured her, slowly down as they neared a corner. He stopped, listened and then peered into an alleyway. "Not there…"

They continued on for a few more minutes before Kimbley came to an abrupt stop and narrowed his eyes.

"What is it?" Genna inquired, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. Her boss held up a hand to silence her, and she frowned with annoyance. With a heavy sigh, she tried to sense whatever it was he was sensing. Still not seeing anything, she turned to check behind her just in time to see a huge, hideous beast leaping at her.

She screamed and ducked, instinctively covering her head and closing her eyes. It was then she heard a disgusting ripping sound, followed by a splash and a sickening thud. The next thing she knew, she was covered in something hot and sticky. Opening her eyes, she saw blood splattered all over her, making her shriek again.

"Forgive me, Lieutenant, I didn't mean to shower you." said Kimbley as he gently pulled Genna to her feet. He was also covered in blood… as was the mutilated remains of the chimera beside them. Genna gasped and took a step away from it. Inwardly, though, she was glad Kimbley had blown it up before it could tear her apart.

She made a mental note to not like him any better for it.

"On your guard, now, I was told there were three in total." warned Kimbley, already walking further down the street. Wary, Genna stayed at his heels and kept on the lookout for the other chimera.

A ferocious snarling made her stop. Just ahead of her and Kimbley were two angry-looking monsters, each drastically different from the other. One was big and wolf-like, with sabre-like fangs and a long, spiked tail. The other was smaller and resembled a panther, but had huge, leathery wings attached rather awkwardly to its shoulders. Both were staring hungrily at the soldiers, drool hanging from their drawn lips.

"There's the other two," said Genna, pointing out the obvious. Kimbley nodded.

"It's a good thing there are two of us, then, yes? I'll take care of the larger one." he declared, pushing his subordinate toward the feline chimera while he jumped at the wolf. Genna cried out in surprise as she was shoved.

Her sudden movement triggered an instant reaction from the panther, and it sprung at her with unsheathed claws. Genna forced herself to assume a calm she had used on the battlefield in Ishbal and quickly slid out of the way. The chimera glided through the air before landing easily a few feet away from her. Muttering a few swears, Genna reached for her gun, hoping to kill the thing before it could attack again.

Her weapon wasn't there. Eyes widening in panic, the lieutenant patted herself down in search of her gun, but couldn't find it. The chimera was crouching down to pounce again. How was she supposed to hold this monster off without a proper weapon?! It was all Genna could do to merely jump out of the chimera's way as it flew at her.

What was she supposed to do now? She couldn't think straight. Even though she was still a terrible shot, she had been relying on that gun to protect her. Now she was pit against an unnatural, ugly, deadly thing and had no way to defend herself. Where was Kimbley?! Surely he had finished off that other chimera by now!

Wait.

Alchemy.

Maybe Genna could remember something from the book Kimbley had made her read. She had copied down a few circles… which of them would be useful in a situation like this? She ran through her memory as she avoided the chimera's attacks, desperate to come up with anything that could help her.

A wall! The lieutenant had read about making blocks out of the ground, and if she could make one big enough maybe she could prevent the chimera from reaching her until Kimbley came back. Its wings didn't seem to be good for much more than gliding, so she wouldn't even need to make a roof…

Glancing over her shoulder, Genna found that she had been backed into an alley. Perfect; she could transmute the wall of the building next to her and connect it to the other building, making a barrier… It seemed simple enough. She just needed something to draw the circle with. Looking around, she saw a small white rock lying on the ground. She dove for it and grabbed it just as the panther charged at her. Panicking, Genna rolled onto her back and kicked the chimera in the ribs, sending it sliding across the cement.

It was now or never. Recalling the correct circle, Genna scribbled the shape onto the ground in front of her and pressed her hands to it as she had seen other alchemists do.

The circle began to glow with a blue light, and the cement sparked with energy.

Within seconds, it flickered and went out.

Genna's eyes widened in fear. "No, no!" she cried, slapping her hands on the transmutation circle again. Nothing was happening. The chimera was starting to get to its feet… What had gone wrong?! Why wasn't the alchemy working?!

Giving up, she jumped up just in time to avoid being ripped apart by the now frustrated chimera. Running past it, Genna fled back onto the road, hoping to meet up with Kimbley so he could kill the panther thing. When she didn't immediately see him she decided to try and use the alchemy again, using the rock she still held in her hand to redraw her circle on the street before the chimera could catch up.

She tried to activate it. It still didn't work. She tried again. Nothing. The most she got was a few sparks and a bump in the ground.

The lieutenant was so absorbed in the alchemy that she forgot to check on the chimera's location. She was abruptly reminded of its existence when it pounced on her, slamming her to the ground and pinning her down. Her vision briefly failed; she had hit her head. Now the chimera stood over her, its snarling snout in her face. Its hot breath stung Genna's cheek.

This was it. She was going to die.

Splat!

Genna screamed as an enormous amount of blood drenched her. There was no pain; this was good, but just the thought of all of that blood… her blood… She was glad she had closed her eyes. Absently she wondered if she would end up in heaven or hell.

"Lieutenant,"

Who was that?

"Lieutenant, get up."

Genna frowned. How was she supposed to get up if she was dead?

"Enough sitting around, Lieutenant, it's time to head back."

Genna felt something grab her under the arms and lift her to her feet. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes.

Nothing looked different. She was still on that creepy looking street. The only thing new was the chimera at her feet, which looked as though it had been flattened into a bloody pancake. Genna blinked. If it was dead… Looking down at herself, she found that though she was covered in the crimson liquid, none of it was hers. She was completely unharmed.

Perhaps she was too quick to jump to conclusions.

"There, see, you're perfectly fine. Not even a scratch." Kimbley was saying as he released her to let her stand on her own. "Now that that's all done, I do think it would be a good idea to return to headquarters and wash up, don't you?"

"Y-yeah…" Genna replied, still shaken. Kimbley smiled at her and began to lead the way.

"That was close. You should have been more careful, Lieutenant." he told her. Before she could answer him, he reached into his jacket, pulled out a gun, and turned to hand it to her. "You must have dropped this when the chimera attacked you."

Genna's eyes widened. "I-I dropped it?" she asked, incredulous. How could she have managed that? The gun had been attached securely to her belt!

"Though I did see your attempts to use alchemy. The circle was perfect." Kimbley went on, scratching his chin.

"But it didn't work,"

"No, it didn't…" The alchemist frowned, looking rather disappointed. "Some people just can't use alchemy. Maybe that's your case. Or perhaps you just need to study it more before you understand it enough to use it."

Genna shrugged. It's not like it mattered to her. Next time she would just be more careful with her gun. Though, it was odd that she had lost it so easily…

"Wait a minute," she said suddenly, stopping.

"What is it?" Kimbley asked, looking over his shoulder.

"You took my gun, didn't you?!" Genna demanded, glaring at him. "When you pushed me! You stole it!"

"What would make you accuse me of such a thing?" he inquired, looking incredulous.

"I thought something was going on when you were so persistent about me learning alchemy! You were trying to see if I could do it, weren't you? That's why you brought me along and took my gun!"

Kimbley smiled and shrugged. "Think what you will. Now, let's head back, shall we?"