Sometimes, in the middle of the darkness in which you find yourself, there's light.

Let it be hope, or faith, or love, or warmth, or an actual light, there always is one. I didn´t know how much had I waited for it, or even if I had been trying to search for it, but when it came it wasn't delicate or beautiful either. It was painful, it was harsh and it was a fistful of coughs mixed into my throat, threatening to rip it off.

I turned to my side and spluttered out whatever I had in my windpipes, trying hard to breath though I felt as if my throat was about to be ripped from the pressure. After a few coughs I finally opened my eyes, my vision blurring before they focused into a dirty floor. I felt dizzy, the solid floor before me feeling cold under my fingers. When my eyes finally adjusted to the strange and dim light, my eyes widened, my body throwing itself back as a natural reaction.

I screamed, wanting to put my hands on my head's sides, but knowing that those weren't hands. Those weren't my hands. I slowly raised them to my eye level and sweat broke on the back of my neck.

My fingers were longer—now the size of a normal piano player—while before they had been normal sized. My nails were sharp, and they were all bitten down to flesh before. My skin was paler than I remembered. I finally guided my fingers to my face and touched it, sighing as I realized my features hadn't changed, at least not much. Continuing with my hair, I pulled a strand in front of my eyes to see that my hair was shorter, and it was a darker tone. It was black.

"W-what… is this…?" I asked in a raspy voice which was definitely mine.

And somehow, it was smoother than before, almost like a purr. I began to shake even more than before, running my hands through my head before I found another thing protruding from my head. With trembling hands, I touched them, both exactly identical. They were soft and I could feel them. I had a sinking feeling and, before I even thought about it, snapped my fingers, whimpering as the sound was stronger than what I thought it would be.

I was tempted to scream again as I realized they were my ears. Moving a tail that I found out had also been grown from my tailbone, I stood up with wobbly knees. I nearly fell, but I supported myself on the rock wall by my side. Fearing what could come from the half opened door, I hesitated before moving my feet through the floor, guiding my hand to the knob.

And just as I opened it, a figure opened it too. Fear struck me immediately as I watched the overly tall and scary man being taken aback. With a blood curling scream, I fell on my bum to the floor and crawled back to the middle of the room, tears springing from my eyes.

"Please, don't kill me!" I cried.

"Kill… you?" he frowned, taking a step forward.

I shouted again and covered myself with my arms, burying my face between my knees. This couldn't be happening. What the hell was going on? Where was I? Why was I here? Who was that man? Why couldn't I remember anything?

"Roa, what are you doing?" a voice asked behind him.

It was a female and, for a moment, a feeling of ease filled me. Maybe because I was more comfortable around a girl, or maybe because a girl had less tendency to do harm unless she was a dog of the military. Looking up, a blonde, slim female glanced at me, frowning.

"What is she doing here?" she asked in a thread of voice, as if asking so to herself.

"I don't know," the wardrobe man answered her. "She wasn't in the bedroom we left her in, so I assumed she had woken up. I was just about to call Greed, but because he wasn't at the bar I guessed he was down here. I found her instead."

"Find Greed, tell her she finally woke up," she commanded, and the wardrobe man retrieved from the room.

I tensed again as she approached me, feeling that she could be harmful to me. She frowned again but afterwards adopted a softer look on her face, crouching a few meters from me. She was smiling at me, and as scared as I was, I had to admit that she couldn't possibly mean harm to me to try so hard. Not with that expression.

"Hey there," she commenced slowly and friendly. "You must be really confused, eh?"

"W-who a-are you?" I stuttered out.

"I'm Martel," she introduced. "Nice to meet you."

"What am I doing here? Who was that before? Who's Dolcetto and Greed? How did I get here? Why can't I remember anything?"

I sobbed and run my wrist through my nose, trying not to seem too weak.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," her hand touched my shoulder and I flinched, about to slap it off.

But her touch was warm, and I felt cold.

I gazed up at her and she rubbed it with affection, a loving look in her face. Whatever had happened to me, for sure had happened to her. Her features were also somehow familiar, even though I was positive that I had never met her in my life.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"I…" I swallowed. "I'm Roxanne."

"Well, Roxanne," she beamed softly. "You must be really hungry, and also, you may want some answers, am I right?"

I nodded effusively and she stood, offering me a hand. I stared at it for a couple seconds before I took it, her strength unlikely from a body like hers. I began to realize that maybe she was as human as I.

"Why do I have a tail and ears?" I asked.

"It'll all be explained soon, Roxanne," Martel promised, placing a hand again on my shoulder and looking into my eyes. "Trust me."

And for some foreign and strange reason, I did.