AN: The characters and concepts of FullMetal Alchemist belong to Hiromu Arakawa. This story revolves around the first anime of FullMetal Alchemist, not the manga. Do not flame because of that small difference, I've read the manga and seen the real anime that follows it, but the first anime is what captured my heart about FMA, so this story is tribute. Enjoy the story. The lyrics are "This Means War" by Avenged Sevenfold, I do not own the lyrics to the song. - Carrie.
"No home to call my own, no finding someone new;
No one to break the fall, no one to see me through.
No name to carry on, no promise for today;
No one to hear the call, no tattered flag to raise."
By the time she reached the crowd waiting in front of the double doors, Carlina's doubt had reared its ugly head again. Two military personnel flanked the doors, waiting for the sign from within that the first part of the exam was to begin. She looked at the workers in blue before observing the others who had come to take the exam, sizing up her competition. One man stood almost seven feet tall with two large automail arms, another thin man sat in the corner with glasses on the bridge of his nose, reading from a book mumbling to himself. A pair of brunette twins brought an ache to her chest, turning away from their encouraging words to each other.
Through the crowd of people she swore she saw a young man with flaming hair and blue eyes, shaking her head violently to see nothing. "I'm losing it, I knew that mental workout was a bit much for me this morning," she hissed to herself, feeling a throbbing begin in her left temple. The throbbing pulsated through her head as the double doors slammed open, revealing a tall man with a clipboard.
"As you enter through the doors, you will give me your name and go ahead to take a seat among the rows of tables. Wait patiently for the beginning of the exam, any participants showing unruly behavior will fail and be escorted off the premises," Carlina shuddered as he mentioned failure, jumping a little as she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. "Prepared for the exam? That cold sweat of yours isn't very convincing," Roy joked, chuckling as she swatted him with her hands. "Very funny grandpa, I'll be fine. I've had training most of my life for this, I can't fail it now," she replied, an eyebrow raised as he pulled a long box from behind his back.
He held it out to her, jerking it out of her reach as she swiped for it, "Now, now. I'm not sure if an old fart like me can give proper gifts. Maybe I should just return this?" Mustang chuckled as she stuck her tongue out at him, ruffling her hair as he placed the box in her hands. "Good luck, we're all watching you," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder before walking past the crowd and into the exam room.
As the lid of the box lifted she exhaled sharply, hesitantly reaching for the object laid inside. It was a choker, black metal ringlets weaving a lace pattern. A set of bronze angel wings hung with a silver 'C' engraved where the two wings joined. Brushing her fingers across the aged metal, tears pricked the corners of her eyes as she realized this was an old present meant for her. The signs of the clasp being widened to allow for the years of growth were obvious, as she lifted the choker and secured it around her throat. Carlina fought back tears as she filed into line behind the large man with the automail arms, her emotions under control by the time she gave her name to the man with the clipboard. Sitting in the third row of tables, she looked straight ahead at the Führer and the two men on either of his sides.
She jumped a little as he used a gavel to bring the room to attention, the people standing hurried back to their seats as the Führer cleared his throat, "We'll now commence with the Preliminary Exam, good luck." The same man who had written the names on the clipboard stood to the side, and in an authoritative voice boomed, "Begin."
Time passed by quicker than she imagined it would, on the last page of her exam when the man announced there were only a few minutes left. Carlina skimmed the last page and put down the answers she thought sounded correct, laying her pencil down just as the man with the clipboard spoke, "Pencils down, everyone outside! We will check your exams and contact you if you make it to the interview phase." Letting out a sigh, she turned her test in and made her way out of the building. She bit down on her bottom lip and focused on the ground, nearly running into someone larger than her as she reached the bottom of the stairs.
Thinking she had almost run into the large man with the automail, she hopped back a step and stumbled as she looked up, "Oh God, I'm so sorry, I wasn't-" "-It's okay, how did the exam go," Al asked, as Ed caught her by the arm and steadied her on her feet. 'It...It was good, I guess. What are you guys doing here?"
Ed and Al looked at each other for a few seconds before turning back to her, both looking slightly hurt at her question. "Well, we wanted to see how you were doing. Honestly, you thought we were just gonna let you go that easily? You seem like you can handle yourself, and if you do pass the exam, it doesn't mean we don't want you around. We could always use another capable hand, and I mean, Winry would kill us if we just let you wander around alone from now on," Ed said slowly, his cheeks flushing as he rubbed the back of his head. Carlina blushed at his statement too, letting out a quiet oh before looking back down at the ground.
"Who's hungry," Al asked, cutting the tension as both of their stomachs rumbled on cue. "I guess I could eat something, I never had breakfast," Carlina admitted sheepishly, linking arms with Ed on her left and Al on her right. "Good thinking, she's gonna need food if she plans on going through the exam," Ed teased, laughing as she stuck her tongue out at him.
Soon after, the Elrics got into an argument about where they should go to eat. Al insisted they take her to a nice restaurant to celebrate the exam she was taking, while Ed argued they couldn't afford those luxuries. "Guys? Maybe we should just go to the Mess Hall, that way I'm close if Mustang needs to find me? Besides, isn't a fancy meal the kind of thing used to celebrate passing the exam, not just one part? Plus you shouldn't spend that kind of money on me, ever," she interrupted the bickering brothers as her headache continued to worsen. They sheepishly agreed with her, compromising with each other while leading her to the military dining facility. The man at the front door didn't bat an eye at the short girl with the famous Elric brothers, who led her to the food and then to one of the long bench tables.
Al sat across the table from the other two, who proceeded to ravenously dig into their plates. "Uh...Shouldn't you two slow down before someone-" Before Al could finish his question, someone appeared behind Carlina and clapped her on the back, causing her to begin choking on her food. "Nice job on the written exam, small fry. You're up in half an hour for the second part," Mustang teased, as he dodged Carlina who had just regained her breath.
Roy pranced out of the dining hall, the girl sighed wearily and rested her head on her folded arms. "Is everything okay with you," Ed asked, raising an eyebrow at her place at the table. "Yeah, fine. Just not feeling too good today, a headache and my stomach is in knots," she lifted her head, looking at Al as he put a hand on top of her arms, "You'll be okay Carlina, it's probably just nerves. It seems like you know your stuff, and I think you can do it!" Her eyes watered as she grabbed his hand in both of hers, a grin spread across her face. "Thanks guys, I'll be seeing you later, I've got an exam to run to!"
Twenty minutes later, she arrived at another set of double doors lined with gold. Figures bathed in a pool of some sort, crossing what looked like olive branches. Before Carlina could get a closer look, one of the twin sisters from earlier burst out of the room ahead. Tears streamed down the girl's cheeks as she rushed down the hall, the double doors shutting on their own.
Grasping the door handles in her hands, she breathed deeply before pulling the doors toward her. A stream of light came into the room before the doors shut behind her. A light shone from overhead on what appeared was a transmutation circle, a gold chair with three legs angled close to one another and swirled back stood in the center. She could just make out a long table that the Führer sat behind, Roy standing in the shadows to the left of the table. Her eyes drifted back to the chair in the center of the room, her pupils widened as she pondered how the chair stayed balanced.
"Take a seat. Alchemy is the science of balance, if you have the gift; it will not refuse you. Go on Carlina. State Alchemists cannot be afraid," the Führer interrupted her thoughts as she swallowed the lump in her throat. Carlina nodded her head once before stepping forward, sitting in the chair with no problems with one leg crossed over the other.
"Very good," Führer Bradley praised with a small smile, before looking down at a sheet of paper, "Now tell me why you want to be an Alchemist for our Military." Carlina didn't miss a beat before her response poured out of her, "It runs in the family, sir. It goes deeper than that, I suppose. The Joihansons have been researchers, medics, teachers, all professions that improve with the use of alchemy. In the years before and since my family passed away, I had no idea what field I wanted to pursue, I still don't know. I do know that serving a higher purpose and accessing the materials at my fingertips will help me to look at the others who came before me, to find my niche in society."
"Excellent, consider the second part passed. Normally you would have to wait a couple of weeks to take your practical, but due to your scoring and the mystery surrounding your return without your family, there has been a lot of push to see you in the practical occurring later today. If you have no objections, we could slip you in. I'm curious to see how you do myself," he responded, chuckling as Carlina nodded her head in agreement to his terms, "Very well, we shall see you an hour before the sun begins to set."
Carlina grinned before she rose out of the chair, saluting to the panel before calmly walking out of the room. The large man with the automail arms was waiting on the other side, startled as she pumped her fist in the air while letting out a triumphant shout. She broke into a run down the hall, taking a corner too fast and colliding with the person on the other side. Ed groaned from his place below her on the floor, tangled together in a mess of red and yellow. "Where's the fire," Al teased, amused as he watched them fumble to untangle their jackets. "I did it! I passed the interview and the Führer says he wants to see my practical so they slipped me into this afternoon's exam," she gushed, letting out a surprised squeak as Al swept her off the floor and into a bear hug.
"That's wonderful news, it looks like Ed and I will be taking you out to dinner tonight," Al and Carlina laughed as Ed mumbled grudgingly, standing while brushing off his trench coat. "Any ideas on what you're going to do for the practical," Ed asked as Al put Carlina back on her feet. Rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, she scuffed her boots on the floor while looking down, "Actually, I haven't thought about it at all, I was hoping you could tell me what you did for your practical so I could get inspiration."
Ed looked at her for a few minutes as if he hoped she was joking, blinking a couple of times when he realized she was serious. "Carlina, I passed my practical because someone else did something potentially hazardous and I reacted quickly. You can't count on someone else making a mistake you can fix, they give a lot of materials to you though, I'm sure you can come up with something…" Her skin paled at every word he uttered before she was ghost white, shaking her head a few times before the gears in her head started to turn. "Shitfuck,Ihavetogettothelibrary," she breathed out as she ran past the brothers, leaving them confused in the middle of the hallway.
A couple of hours passed before Carlina found herself sprinting through the streets of Central on her way back from the public library. She knew there were a couple of minutes until the practical, scared she would be late. Through all the research she had done, nothing seemed plausible to showcase her talents to the Führer and judges. Her chest started to ache from her blistered pace, her headache worse than it had been that morning.
She made it to the large courtyard in time, her eyes sweeping across the various materials strewn throughout the small area in the center set aside for practicals. "Welcome to the practical skills exam. We've provided you with some nice raw materials for your alchemy. You may use them to create whatever you see fit," Führer Bradley spoke, a couple of the others who made it looking at one another for answers. A couple of alchemists transmuted, one after another, each one better than the next. A couple of ice statues, a car that didn't run, and finally a large stone reinforced wall. Carlina watched on nervously as the man who had read the book earlier stepped into the area.
A pit formed in her stomach as she watched him haul large rocks into the center of a transmutation circle before he clapped his hands and lowered them to the ground. A couple of turrets stood where the rocks had, one of the judges praising his work, "He used alchemy to generate heat through the stones to make them metal turrets. Useful on the battlefield."
They began to rotate around before shots could be heard, everyone diving to the ground to avoid being hit. "Stop them at once," the same judge commanded, shielding the Führer with his body. "I can't, this has never happened before," the man squeaked in reply, cowering under his arms on the ground. Carlina took a deep breath before she crawled quickly across the ground, taking shelter behind the immovable car. She rose to her feet, flinching as bullets ricocheted nearby. The girl observed the turrets, calculating and darting from behind the car to the wall when she knew there was enough time. Pressed against the stone, she threw herself to the ground and crawled to where the man laid by his turrets.
She clapped her hands together without drawing a circle, palms faced toward the turrets in the center of the area. The turrets glowed yellow, morphing into a hunk of metal twisted before becoming a statue of the Führer, the judges and other contestants standing and looking at the statue in awe. "I think we've found our girl, she's got a bravery that must run in the family," the Führer said, Mustang winking at her from over his shoulder.
The brothers waited anxiously outside the site of the practicals, both grinning at their friend dashed out from the group of disappointed contestants. "Guys, guys, I did it," she shouted as she ran toward them, freezing in place a few feet away from them. "Carlina," Ed asked, squinting his eyes at her as she whispered something he couldn't hear, "What was that?" "I said, I don't...feel good," she spoke a little louder, clutching her head as pain seared from temple to temple. The brothers reached her side as she began shaking, falling to her knees and biting her bottom lip. "Al, go get Mustang," Ed ordered at the same time Carlina passed out. He caught her in his arms, feeling the heat radiating from her body.
AN: I'm sorry I'm such a horrible human being and this update took so long. I hope the length may make up for the time it took, hopefully the next one won't take nearly as long. On that note, what's going on with our favorite pink alchemist!? I may have made you wait a while for this, but I never promised rainbows and butterflies ;] Thanks to Ed's Curious Kitten (whose username keeps getting weird formats when I try to use it now) for reviewing the last chapter, you rock! Read and review, if you're shy about public reviews you can also message thoughts to me here. If you don't want your name in a shout out at the end of next chapter for reviewing, let me know and I will remember to keep you anonymous. Thanks for putting up with my hectic life and writer's block guys, have wonderful days and I hope you enjoyed! -Carrie.