She shuts the door.

And Akira wanders out of the basement study.

"You look annoyed. What happened?"

"A State Alchemist was here. Asking about van Hohenheim."

"...Who?"

"Our father."

"Did he say why?"

"No."

"Did he say anything else?"

"He saw Bellona and said most State Alchemists would arrest us for human transmutation."

"But he didn't."

"He said the cost is enough punishment for most. And that State Alchemists have lots of resources and he would sponsor us if we wanted to join."

"It might be worth me contacting him - a non-zero number of alchemists are going to recognize the aftermath of a human transmutation, and it'd be good to have at least a small shield from someone higher up. He sponsors me, I let him get credit for discovering me. It's often secret and highly illegal; that doesn't mean no one ever thinks about it, nor that no one's ever been involved in one."

"I don't want you two joining, though. One of us is enough for that meat grinder."

She sighs.

"And - speaking of ways people could recognize someone who has performed human transmutation, there's something I need to talk to you two about."

"What is it?"

"The way I perform alchemy without a transmutation circle - "

"To my knowledge, all alchemists who have seen the Gate can do that, and only those alchemists. I know of no other way to see the Gate than human transmutation."

"You two should be able to use that ability, now. It's powerful, but it's - a giveaway."

"I see."

" - How come you didn't - "

She gestures at their bodies.

"I did."

"I returned, rapidly choking on my own blood."

"The Gate took my heart. I only survived because Dante had been supervising - looking back, I'm fairly sure she used a Philosopher's Stone to heal me, but... She pretended it was simple medical alchemy at the time."

"The replacement's still fairly weak."

"Oh."

"If you want to openly use circle-less alchemy like I have - I'd suggest pretending you have a permanent, basic array somewhere, on a bracelet or glove, and the talent to manipulate it towards a wide variety of ends. It was a common trick used by State Alchemists in Ishval. Get a tattoo of your favorite combat array, and you can react faster, kill more people without stopping to draw circles."

"That's a good idea."

She nods, gesturing to a bracelet around her wrist. "It's my cover story, if I'm talking to anyone who actually gets suspicious, though I mostly avoid using it where other alchemists can see me."

"...What's Bellona's cover story?"

"An evil alchemist tried to turn me into a cat chimera and now I'm hiding my ugly face," Bellona says, cheerfully.

Akira rubs at her temples.

"I don't think that's really going to deflect suspicion so much as invite it."