Ed sat up in his room later that night, contemplating about the strange day he had just gone through. He wondered why anyone in this world would be studying alchemy anyway, since it's impossible here. All this thought about his home made him miss his friends even more. His door opened and Al walked in.

"Brother, are you ok?" he asked, sounding concerned. Ed nodded with a blank expression, holding back his strong emotions he didn't want his brother to see again. "I've just been thinking, why would there be an alchemist here where alchemy is impossible?"

"I've been thinking about that too." Al replied, "I don't even know how he would've known about alchemy."

Ed looked up at Al, "Well how he gained his knowledge isn't important. We need to find this 'Master' and learn everything he knows about alchemy in this world."

"Ed let's not get in over our heads." Al replied, "Officer Hughes said that he was a serial killer- he could've made up that excuse to throw you off." Ed replied strongly, almost yelling, "Then how did he find out about alchemy? We need to go to the library first thing tomorrow to learn more about what people in this world know about alchemy. There has to be one book that has a name of a specific alchemist."

Al knew firsthand that when his brother put his mind to something there was no stopping him. "Ok brother, but get some sleep." Ed calmed down a bit and nodded, "Ok, night Al." "Night Ed." And Al left the room.

Ed tossed and turned in his bed, having a similar dream to the one he had the previous night. He was drenched in his own sweat and he rocketed up from his sleep. He was again panting heavily and brushed off his forehead with his arm. He looked at his pocket watch- 8:00 A.M. He wouldn't have had the watch had it not been for Al. He remembered…

"It'll be a challenge to remove that circle without alchemy." "Yeah," Al said, "but we can do it together."

Ed thought for a moment, "Al pass me the armor's head!" He promptly ran to the armor and threw the head to his brother. Ed continued to hurry over to a puddle on the side of the room. He filled the head with water and went back over to Al.

"There. Now we just need to get up to the ceiling and rub off some of the markings on that transmutation circle."

"But how are we going to get up there?" said Al. Ed again went into a deep thinking state. He saw two broken pieces of metal in the corner. He ran over and put the head in his teeth and the metal pieces in his hands. He shoved the first piece of metal into the old delicate wall. He used the pieces of metal to climb up the wall, though this was tougher than he thought it would be. The metal head made his gums sting in pain and his arms were aching from the climbing. But success was within reach. He was a few feet from the circle. Ed held onto one piece of metal and put the head in his free hand.

He was about to throw the head when he remembered all he would be leaving behind by washing away the circle. Izumi, the State Alchemists, Winry. But there was no turning back now.

He pulled his arm back and with one faithful throw, tossed the head at the circle. It worked and enough of the circle was washed away for the portal to vanish.

Ed breathed an unusual sigh of relief and depression. He yelled down to Al, "Um… How do I get down?"

Al yelled back, "Throw me your shirt!" Ed complied and tore off then threw his shirt down to Al. He stretched out into a misshapen tarp of sorts. He held onto one end and nailed the other end into the wall with one of the pieces of metal Ed dropped. He yelled, "Ed! Jump! It'll break your fall!"

Ed, seeing no other way, jumped into the cloth. It obviously didn't hold for much time at all and Ed was badly cut and bruised, but without it, he would've died.

While Al supported his brother on the way out of the castle, he held out his closed hand to Ed. When he opened it, a shiny silver circle was revealed. "I made a point to give you this. Rose told me it was yours."

Ed took the watch and smiled at Al, "Thanks, bro."

Ed got out of bed and walked downstairs. Al was cooking breakfast since he didn't have to the day before. Al placed the eggs in front of Ed, Noa and his own table setting. Al and Noa quickly began to eat, but Ed sat with a deep expression upon his face. Al seemed concerned, "Is something wrong, Ed?"

"I… I really need to get to the library. Save my food for me, I'll have it when I get back." Ed left the apartment and pulled out his car keys. He opened the car's door, started the engine and headed for the library.

Once he reached the library he hurried up the stone stairs and pushed open the double doors. He was almost at a running pace because of his excitement, and a librarian promptly shouted, "No running!" Ed came to a halt. He blushed a little and walked rather quickly to the huge shelves in the main area. He spent a long time reading books related to two subjects- Iraq and Alchemy. Everything from former rulers to theories on the unknown art of transmutation was there but not much info on specific people who practiced alchemy.

Ed slammed his palms to his head, "Damn it!" he shouted, sitting in a pile of books scattered across the floor. The librarian yelled again, "Watch it, kid!" Ed calmed down, but was still mad, "I can't find out anything about this guy. You'd think someone studying such a marvelous science would have a biography or two." Just then, Ed looked down and saw one last book he hadn't opened yet. "'The Alchemists of the Middle East'" Ed read quietly aloud. He opened it quickly, overlooking small details in the opening of the book, he finally came across several names, but one stuck out distinctly from the rest. "Al-Zari" Ed said, "An Iraqi alchemist known for his many apprentices and followers, he has studied much about alchemy. How he knows the many secrets of alchemy, or if these secrets are even real is unknown, but he is the most revered alchemist in Iraq." He closed the book having finished the article, "So there are multiple alchemist in Iraq?" he pondered for a moment, "Whatever, I gotta tell Al!"

Ed ran out of the library with newfound energy. "What did I tell you about running!?" the librarian yelled, "And are you gonna put those away!?"

Ed didn't care, suddenly the world was perfect to him. He wanted to jump if he wasn't so busy running to his car. As he was dashing through the doors he crashed into Officer Hughes.

Ed put his hand to his head and looked up at Officer Hughes who was extending a helping hand. Ed grabbed his hand and pulled himself up, "Good day Officer Hughes! How's it going?" Ed asked, wearing a broad smile. But Officer Hughes just stood with a serious expression. "What's wrong, Officer?" Ed asked, getting more serious. "Ed I'm going to be blunt; you can't mess with alchemy."

Ed's eyes widened in shock, "How did you-"

"All standard officers and up know about your business with the Gate, Ed.", Officer Hughes interrupted.

Ed's shock grew, just when he thought it was at its greatest, "WHA-"

"Ever since that alchemist wannabe spoke with you in the alleyway, Central Command wanted me to spy on you to make sure you weren't going to be trying more alchemy. They think you're a possible threat."

"But I helped to stop the Nazis dominate the world! Why am I a threat?" Ed asked, outraged. "You saw what alchemy almost did to this country, Ed." Hughes said, "I know that you just want to meet with that master. Am I right?"

Ed stared at Hughes, "So you heard that entire conversation?" he said, a little more calmly. Hughes simply nodded.

"Wait," Ed said suspiciously, "you told Central Command about that?" "Hey I needed a story for killing a man- and this country isn't any better off with its officers lying to higher ups."

"You needed a story?" Ed retorted, "So he wasn't a serial killer- you just killed him because he was an alchemist!" "I told you, alchemy has brought nothing but bad things to this country- O thought he was gonna use alchemy to hurt you or some other people."

Ed sighed, "Well no need to worry- alchemy is impossible here. That portal was under special circumstances."

Hughes looked confused, "Then why do you want to meet this master?"

Ed thought, "I don't know. I guess I'm a blind hopeful." There was silence.

"Good bye, Officer Hughes." Ed said glumly. He started to walk off until, "Ed wait!" Hughes stopped him. He turned around. "Take this." He said holding out his hand. In it was a large amount of money. Ed looked confused, "What is this?"

"Think of it as a 'see-ya-later' present'." Hughes said. "If you're planning on meeting that master in Iraq, you'll need money to get there."

"But what about alchemy being bad and Central Command?" Ed asked, confused.

"Look, I know I said that, but I always knew you were never a threat. Lying to Central Command about this little incident won't be a problem- I'll tell them you've moved away. They'll still be looking for you, but they'll struggle greatly to find you."

Ed looked up with a smile again, "Thanks, Officer Hughes!" he took the money, "Please, call me Maes."

Ed kept smiling broadly, "Thanks, Maes."