Aiming High

A Chapter by Emunah June.

I sat back in my chair, uncertain of how to process what I just heard. The Colonel was going to travel to the other side of the Gate? To Shamballa? If what the Colonel said was true, then Shamballa was the "Ultimate Paradise". I began to think of my dream. Hadn't Ed said "Shamballa" to me? So that must mean...

...that Ed was in Shamballa!

I began to get excited. I knew where he was! I knew! I could finally go and see him...see Edward. Then, all my thoughts cleared, and I began to laugh.

Hard.

"Ed....Ed is in the Ultimate Paradise?! Ha ha ha ha ha hee hee hee! He's...ha ha....on vacation? Hee hee ah ah ah ha ha ha ha!" I laughed as I slammed my fists against the desk. As I wiped tears from my eyes, I tried to regain my breath. "Alright...I'm good," I said as I breathed in a lungful of oxygen. So, the Colonel opened the Gate? Well, then, I just had to convince the Colonel to let me in.

Or...

No, I wasn't going to do this alone. Alphonse had to come with me. He had to. If Ed was there, I wanted us to see him at the same time.

I was going to open the Gate when the Colonel wasn't looking.

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Come lunch time, everyone was down at the Mess Hall. I walked silently down to the Mess Hall, looking for Al. It wasn't hard. He stuck out like a sore thumb with his bright red coat. I sat next to him. "Bweh Bwwoba," Al said with his mouth full of rice and spaghetti. "Shh! Swallow first. I need to talk to you about something important," I whispered. Al swallowed the wad of spaghetti hanging out of his mouth before he cut up a piece of fried octopus and popped it in his mouth. "Alright...but can it wait? I have a meeting after lunch," he said in an almost snobby tone. I leaned in close to his ear so only he could hear me.

"I think I know where Edward is."

Al shot up, swallowed, and immedietly ushered me off the table. When we were alone in the hall, he began to speak.

"You know where Nii-San is? Where? Is he here somewhere?" Al asked in a panic. I could see tears forming around his eyes. "Beyond the Gate...the Gate that divides the living and the others. Ed is on the other side. Guess what? The Colonel is going to open that very Gate! But we need to open it first and go through before the Colonel does. Alright? We can start by looking in his office," I said. Al nodded and shot down to the Colonel's office.

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When we got into the Colonel's office, we noticed that the bookcase was missing, and where it used to stand lay a hidden passage. "What's down there?" Al asked me. I shrugged. "With any luck, your brother. C'mon, let's go."

We walked down the dark passage, looking around for anything that may lead us to the Gate. Finally, we reached a large room. Sadly, it was too dark to see.

"Al, can you transmute a piece of my hair into a match or something?" I asked. "Sure," he said. In a swift flick of the wrist, I plucked a hair from atop my head and gave it to Al. With a small flash of blue light, in his fingers lay a lit match. "We can see now. Let's look around," I instructed. Soon, we began to look around. Nothing seemed out of place. "See anything Koda?" Al asked as he looked over his shoulder to look at me. Sadly, I shook my head. "There's nothing down here? There has to be something!" I exclaimed, my echo bouncing back to me faster than I thought. Suddenly, Al gasped as he lowered his shoulders. "Hmm? What's wrong Al?" I asked, my heart jumping. "Look at the floor," Al simply said. When I did, I gasped.

Even though our light was small, we could still make it out excatly. The light from the match revealed a small piece of a Transmutation Circle.

"There's a large Transmutation Circle below us," Al whispered just as the light went out. "Great! I can't see! What do we do Al?" I asked. I felt Al move and place his hand on my shoulder. "We activate it!" he said enthusiastically. Then, he let go and spoke again. "Don't you know that? Your my teacher after all," he said. Trying to hide the fact I couldn't do alchemy, I gave a playful laugh. "Oh! Of course I knew. Just making sure you knew is all. A student of mine has to be prepared at all times," I said smoothly. I heard Al laugh, then sigh. "Koda, give me another one of your hairs. We need more light" he said. Just as before, I plucked one of my hairs and placed it in Al's extended hand. As he transmuted it into another match, I began to think about the Circle below us. What would it be here for?

To open the Gate, I assume.

"Alright, Al, this has to be it. Lets--" I began, before the sound of footsteps stopped my train of thought. "Someone's coming," Al whispered. I felt a lump arise in my throat as I turned to face the stone steps.

"Who's there?" Al called bravely, and the steps stopped.

"Getting into trouble on the first day?" was the cocky reply.

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