"Water, 35 liters. Carbon, 25 Kilograms. Ammonia, 4 liters. Lime 1.5, Kilograms. Phosphorous, 800 grams. Salt, 250 grams. Niter, 100 grams. Sulfur, 80 grams. Fluorine, 7.5 grams. Iron, 5 grams. Silicon, 3 grams," I listed aloud while in my head I remembered the other 15 trace elements.

I wondered to myself if it could have all been that simple. Was it fate that I found the means to make my life have meaning again? That I found everything I needed in that old man's lab? It had to have been fate. It was God himself telling me that I had a chance to bring back those who had been stripped from me. I looked at the bowl of ingredients below me as if it where the real thing. And for once since that tragic night I could feel a warmth within me, instead of an empty void. I looked over to the identical bowl beside it and felt the same feeling. I was entranced by these seemingly inanimate objects so much that I didn't notice the small figure behind me trying to loom over me.

"What you doing Elliot?"

My concentration broke and I turned to the voice that spoke to me. I glared at a boy about two years younger than me. His name was Carl, and he had been a friend of mine since I had moved to the small village near Briggs. But I was in no mood for his intrusion, so I pointed to the nearby door and simply told him, "Leave Carl I'm in no mood for one of your 'let's cheer up Elliot' sessions,"

He glared back at me and puffed up his chest to make himself look bigger. Which is hard to do when the kid your facing is a least a head taller than you. Alas he kept up his tough act, "I'm not leaving without an answer Elliot. You've locked yourself inside this house for nearly a week without as much as a peep from anyone of how you have been. So here I am, your friend, worried about your wellbeing,"

I placed a hand over my face and sighed at his lowly attempt to get me to tell him of my intentions. I knew this kid could stand there for hours waiting till I said something to him, so ignoring him was not an option. Besides I did have work that needed to be done, and I had the necessary conditions to get it done now. So I need to get rid of the squirt, "Ok, put simply. I'm working on alchemy, and the only books on alchemy in this dinky town is in this Hohenheim's place. The reason I have locked myself in here and secluded myself is because I want to keep little kids like you out of my business," I gave Carl a little shove toward the door in order to help him get the picture.

He fell backward and landed on his backside. He winced in surprised pain and intensified his hateful glare on me, "Why'd you do that?" hid voice cracked as he attempted to hide his hurt feelings.

I now avoided his gaze as pure fury built up in me about is stubbornness. My mind was set on only one thing, to get him to leave, even if it meant ruining our friendship. I took in a deep breath and faced him once again. This time not allowing my emotions to show themselves in any way, "Look at yourself. On the ground looking up to me like you always do," Carl's glare broke as astonishment took over. I continued none the less, "Have you no life of your own? Must you rely on me for everything? I'm not your older brother Carl, hell I've only acted like your friend out of pity,"

Carl scooted away from me as feelings of despair grasped at his very being, "You…you don't mean that," he croaked in disbelief.

"I do, and ever since I met you all you have been was a pain in my ass," I turned away again and glanced at him over my shoulder, prepared to land the final blow "Leave now Carl before I force you to. You have but become an eyesore,"

I heard but did not see the effect of my cruelty that night. The sobs of my long friend and the slamming of the door behind me. I looked down at my hands and felt great shame in the words I spoke, but I could not have him around asking questions. This was my path, and mine alone. I looked at the bowls again with companionate eyes, "He'll understand one day, all of them will,"

I lifted the two bowls, one in each hand, off the ground and turned toward the door to my right. I walked slowly to make sure that the contents of the bowls didn't spill out. Stopping at the door a lump started to grow in my throat, threatening to cut off my air supply, "No!" I yelled at myself, "You can't have doubts about yourself yet. You've read the books and seen the work in practice. It's simple Elliot just think about their smile when they realize that their son did this all for them," Reassured now I pushed the slightly agar door open and moved inside. The room was empty, I had cleared it out over the past few days for the ritual, but there was the large alchemical circle in the middle written with chock in the way depicted in Hohenheim's notes. I moved slowly to the center of the circle and placed the two bowls down. I started to walk away only to be stopped flat about less than a foot away from the bowls, as if my very heart was tethered to them and if I walked way I would no longer see what they represented again. Closing my eyes, I breathed deeply and continued forward knowing that it was the right course of action. Once at the edge of the circle I turned and faced the inside of it. My legs shook and after a time the buckled beneath me.

"Is this what I have reduced to?" I asked, "God? Is this all I am? A peddling child wishing for the impossible? If so then why let me find this power? It is your plan right?" I paused and looked at the work I had done thus far and thought about the work that was about to go on, "This must be your plan, you have given me the means to grant me my one true wish," My hands clenched into fists as sparks of energy flowed around the chock lines of the circle, "Mother," the pressure in the room intensified at the energy started to surge and swirl around the room, "Father," Tears fell off the side of my face landing below me. Then when all felt right and the power flowed in and out of me I yelled to the gate before me, "Give them back!"