Setting: After manga, when Ed and Al return from Xing and West. Ed is 16 and Al is 15. Sorry, I changed the ages a bit. Just roll with it..?
Earth, 2010
Nicole POV
Sun filtered through the dust-covered windows of the last chemistry room in the hall. The science teacher that my sister and I shared, Mr. Sharete, was busy rambling on about how the 113 elements in the periodic table were all naturally made except for one. He was incorrect. Again. But we didn't care. We were too busy with our own problems to correct his foolish mistake. And by problems we mean figuring out how to stabilize a transmutation circle for taking bacteria out of infected blood. And that was because we knew how to perform Alchemy. We knew we could perform it on Earth. We knew it all along.
*insert theme song here* =P
Carly POV
Mr. Sharete finally saw that we weren't paying attention, and of course, decided to call upon me to answer a question. Of course I didn't pay attention to what the question was, but he was too predictable. "Noble Gases, Group 18." I said simply. He was stupefied. "Now can we please get on to more important lessons, like, for instance, the real science of Alchemy?" The class giggled, sighed, and rolled their eyes at the common reply.
You see, my older sister and I are obsessed with Fullmetal Alchemist, and anything related to it. At our school, it's not common to be obsessed with anything, so we're the freaks of the school. But, our odd obsession has brought much knowledge. We've spent hours on end figuring out how to use alchemy. And finally, we discovered that the secret was you had to pay a part of yourself to reach and open your gate within yourself. It was kept further away from Earth's humans' reach because Alchemy and the gate are originally from Amestris. The price of yourself was some of your blood. That we learned from the movie Fullmetal Alchemist: Conquerer of Shamballa. Nicole and I haven't performed any Alchemy yet; we're waiting for the perfect time and perfect transmutation circle. But ever since our discovery, we've designed many transmutation circles, and wrote many notes on our fan-based research.
"I told you before, Alchemy died out and was proven false. That is why we now have chemistry!" our uneducated science teacher claimed.
"BLASPHEMY!" Nicole screamed, bolting out of her seat and knocking over her chair. It took a lot of disturbance, (or one great fool), to infuriate my sister this much. "Alchemy IS real! Do you need us to show you, you ignorant fool!" No, we didn't.
"Sure! I'd love to see you try this giant fail of a science!" Mr. Sharete exclaimed. Oh no.
"Fine! Carly, take out the basic transmutation circle you drew earlier today!" Being her younger sister, even if only by a year, I had to do as she said. I unfolded the piece of paper with the perfect circle on it. We took a square piece of cardboard and placed it in the center of the circle. Then, we positioned our hands at the edge of the circle, like we've seen on TV so many times before. "Remember Carly, focus on yourself channeling the energy within the gate and your own soul, as well as the steps of Alchemy and what you plan this cardboard to become. Are you ready?" We were about to begin when Nicole gasped. She ran to the back of the room and reached for the scalpel our class used for dissections and labs. She pricked her finger, making it bleed, then motioned for me to stick out my finger too. The classroom gasped once they realized what we were doing. I could've sworn I heard someone whisper "Emo!" but I wasn't sure. We smeared our blood on the transmutation circle and placed our hands on the circle like we've done not too long before. I closed my eyes.
Nicole POV
When I opened my eyes, what was before me was not a piece of cardboard, but a cardboard duck! I squealed with happiness, and Carly jumped up and down, smiling like the Cheshire Cat. Mr. Sharete gasped. The class clapped in awe, still not fully getting the seriousness of the situation. Mr. Sharete finally snapped back into reality. "Girls! What was that! Why did you just cut your fingers! Go to the principal's office - NOW!"
After explaining a well thought-out, not obsessive-sounding (fake) excuse for why we cut our fingers (and made a random glowing circle in our science class) to our principal, school finally ended. Carly and I walked home from our dreaded high school, ecstatic that our research had finally paid off. Now we had bigger plans - truly opening the gate.
The transmutation circle was completely drawn. It was the circle used to open the gate in Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa. The transmutation circle was largely drawn on our empty basement floor. DejaVu.
Carly was finishing the last line when she looked up at me and asked an extremely important question to me: "What will we sacrifice to open the gate?" I had completely forgot. So there we sat, considering what to sacrifice, when we came to a conclusion. We would each sacrifice a part of our memory. If the "truth" "one" "all" - whoever - was thoughtful enough, we would each lose different memories, and be able to help each other regain that memory. It would almost be as if nothing was lost!
With that taken care of, we prepared to activate the circle. "You ready?" I asked my sister.
"Ready as I'll ever be." was her reply. She looked apprehensive, but determined. I swear, it felt like my face looked like a baby refusing to eat mashed peas. With that last thought, we activated the circle.
A glowing light; a blink of white; all suddenly filled my sight.
When I came to, I just knew, something wouldn't turn out right.
All I was seeing; a single being; citing his many names - could I be dreaming?
A white space so surreal, but I knew it was real, when my sister proposed, "Let's make a deal."