The Beginning
Her mind a muffled mess, the girl started to stir. She just barely opened her eyes and saw white lights and a white ceiling pounding down on her. They hurt to look at. She brought her hands up to her face and began rubbing her tired eyes. How long had she been asleep? How did she get where she was? Questions filled her mind, but she couldn't find any answers.
She bolted upright and then realized that was not a good idea. Her head began to swim even more than it already was. She pinched the bridge of her nose between her eyes and started breathing deeply. It helped a little. She had the mother of all headaches, and she felt slightly numb. It was like she had changed somehow or didn't belong in her own body.
The girl looked around trying to get her bearings. She was in a hospital. She was sure of that. Part of her was familiar with hospitals but she couldn't remember why or where the meaning came from. She just knew. The white-washed walls and the pastel green bed were dreary. The walls were so white that it made her head hurt. She found a window and looked out into it. The sun was shining. This again sparked a recognition she couldn't place. How did she know what everything was? It was almost like she had never seen it before. All that was in her memory was black nothing-ness and then that tell-tale flash of light. That was all she could recall.
She looked around and saw another person walk into the room. She had dark brown hair that came to her shoulders, and she was wearing a white lab coat. The lady's eyes were dark green, almost like emeralds. It was like she had seen those eyes before somewhere. Her appearance nudged something in the back of the girl's awareness, like she was supposed to know the lady wearing the white lab coat.
"I see you have finally woken up," the lab coat lady said as she walked over toward the bed. "Do you know what happened to you?"
The girl shook her head, "No… Honestly, I don't even know who I am or where I am. Do you have any clue?"
"Well, your report says that your name is Claudia." The lady in the lab coat looked at clipboard in her hands. Raising the first sheet, she said, "It doesn't give a last name. You are currently in Central, in a hospital on the military's compounds. You were in a serious accident and hit your head. I'm not surprised that you can't remember anything."
Claudia. So that was her name. Claudia. It sounded familiar almost as if it fit perfectly. The lab coat lady seemed to know more than she was willing to tell. And no last name, that seemed odd. She didn't know why, but she could tell that Claudia wasn't her only name. Then there was Central. That rang a bell. Still, she couldn't place a finger on it. It seemed as though she should know where it was, like she had been there before.
The lady started to turn away. Quickly, before she could leave, Claudia attempted to make some more conversation. Maybe the white coated lady had some more information.
"What's your name?" Claudia asked.
"I'm Eva. I am the doctor on your case. Get some rest. I'll be back later to check on you. If you happen to want to walk around, just ring the bell and one of my assistants will be in to escort you."
Eva began to walk out the door. Claudia tried to call her back so she could keep talking, but it was useless. Eva was gone.
Walking sounded like a good idea, but Claudia did not want an escort. She would be perfectly fine by herself. She hung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. She went a little too fast and became dizzy. She brought her hand to her forehead and held onto the nearest chair. When her vision stopped swimming, she noticed something odd on her palm. It was a strange symbol that looked like a cross with a snake surrounding it. At the top of the cross were wings and a crown. She didn't know how the cross and the snake and the wings and the crown came to her mind. It was like she was starting to remember something. Then she hit a black wall.
She looked at her other hand and that shocked her even more. There was another symbol, but it was no where the same except that it had the same style of wings. It was a picture of a dragon eating its own tail. In the middle was a triangle split into three parts with a whole in the middle. Again, she started to remember something in the back of her head. She hit a roadblock. All she knew was one word: alchemy. At least that was something to start with. She hadn't a clue what it meant.
Claudia started to walk to the door when she noticed a mirror. She realized that she didn't even know what she looked like. That was slightly unnerving. She took a look and was surprised at what she saw. She had long blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes. Her hair was super curly and her eyes had specks of purple in them. She had a narrow face and she was tall. She almost didn't fit in the mirror. She was thin but muscular at the same time. When she realized her hair was down, it just didn't seem right. She found a rubber band and pulled her long hair back into a half pony tail. The pony tail stuck of the back of her head with a slight poof and the rest of her hair hung elegantly at her shoulders.
When she had committed her looks to memory, Claudia turned toward the door. At least she didn't need to re-learn how to walk. That seemed to come naturally.
She poked her head out the door and looked down the dim hallway. No one was coming, so she stepped outside and started off down the hall. She looked into all the doors she passed, and if she found something of interest, she went inside. Every other door was another patient's room, so this adventure was not going very well.
After many twists and turns and some random wandering, she finally came to a door that looked like all the others, but it was locked. She tried to open it many times and nothing worked. She really wanted to know what was behind this door. It was almost as if something or someone was calling to her from the other side. What could be behind this locked door?
Claudia heard footsteps coming down the hall. She knew that if she was caught without an escort it would be bad. She couldn't get back to the room in time to seem inconspicuous. She started scooting back and she soon felt the wall behind her. She was holding both hands behind her back until she hit the wall, then she let go and placed both of her palms on the cool white stone.
She felt a rush of energy around her and saw the nurse walk buy. The nurse took out a ring of keys and unlocked the door. The nurse left the keys in the door and walked into the dark room beyond. There was a flash of light in the next room and then the nurse was gone. The whole time Claudia had been right under the nurse's nose, but the nurse never took notice of her.
That was weird. Claudia thought. I was almost certain to be caught. Why didn't she see me? And what was that rush? How could she not hear it? Claudia was confused. Maybe that had something to do with alchemy. Or maybe it was something altogether different.
Claudia walked into the room that the nurse had conveniently left unlocked. She tried to be as quiet as a mouse as she huddled in the shadows trying to remain unseen. Whatever it was that was in the room was calling her, and Claudia was determined to find out who it was.
Claudia was close to the end of the dark hallway. She wondered why they, whoever they were, kept this hallway black as death. Maybe there was something secret that was kept in this room that would give her a clue as to who she was and what she was doing here.
She felt another rush of energy and saw a flash of light. The nurse was coming back. Claudia squatted down near the wall, hoping it was dark enough that she wouldn't be caught. She touched the wall again with both hands, trying again to make herself invisible. Nothing happened. She did not feel the same rush of energy as last time. The nurse was getting closer. Claudia decided it was best to stop moving and held her breath.
The nurse stopped right in front of her and turned to look back. She was puzzled, like she had forgotten something. The nurse sighed and turned back obviously thinking whatever she left behind was a lost cause.
Claudia was finally alone in this hallway. She stood upright and walked to the end. It just stopped. She looked at the wall and thought about the rush of energy and the flash of light. How could she get through? How did the nurse do it?
Claudia clasped her hands together, thinking the problem through. She was at a dead end and there was no going back now. The nurse had locked the door and probably wouldn't come back until tomorrow. She needed to get through, but how? Claudia decided that pushing on the wall would be a good first try. Maybe there was a trapped door or something.
After unclasping her hands, she pushed them both against the wall. Before she could give it a good shove, there was that rush of energy that she had heard earlier. She saw a flash of light this time, and, when the flash was gone, she was no longer in the dark hallway.
She blinked a few times to regain her sight and make the dots go away. Claudia looked around. She was in a gray room with no windows or doors. There were strange symbols drawn on the ceiling and the floor that gave off an eerie pinkish light. The symbol in the middle of these huge circles was the same as the one on her left hand. It was the symbol with the cross and the snake. Claudia had found something.
In front of her, sitting on the floor was a girl who looked strangely like her. They had the same sapphire speckled eyes and the same shade of blonde hair. Their faces had a similar quality about them, except the girl in the circles had smudges on her face. She also looked like she had been crying. The girl's hair was also cut short and it was disheveled. She was thin and gaunt and looked like she hadn't had a good meal in a long time.
When the girl saw Claudia, she stood up and walked to the edge of the circle. She raised her right hand and showed Claudia the symbol of the dragon eating its own tail. Claudia raised her other hand, as did the girl. The girl's hand was blank. When they both reached the edge of the circle, a flash of pink light kept the girls from going any farther. The strange girl spoke.
"Hello, alchemist. I'm Avarice."
Claudia was dumbfounded. She looked at the other girl in surprise. What a funny name? Why would someone be called Avarice? And alchemist? Why did the other girl call her that? It did kind of ring a bell, somewhere in that dark place in the back of her mind. Without thinking, Claudia spurted out the first question that came to the tip of her tongue.
"What's an alchemist?"
Avarice started at the girl for a few seconds in total shock. Many puzzled expressions crossed her face. Then she broke out in laughter. How could this girl not know? She used it to get in the room. Was it even possible to accidentally use alchemy? Avarice caught sight of the girls face. The alchemist looked confused still and even a little insulted.
"I thought it was a good question," Claudia said. "I honestly don't know what alchemy or alchemists are."
The expression on Claudia's face told Avarice she was not kidding. The girl didn't even have a clue. Avarice supposed it would nice to tell the girl what she was before killing her.
"Well then, you are an alchemist. Alchemists use alchemy, obviously, to transmute things. Do you know what transmuting is?"
Claudia shook her head back and forth indicating that she did not recognize the term.
Avarice rolled her eyes and started back with her explanation.
"Transmuting something is changing the arrangement of a material in order to form it into something else. There are three steps to transmutation: identifying the material, breaking it down, and constructing it as something else. Do you understand so far?"
Claudia nodded but Avarice could tell by the look in the girls face that this was way over her head. Why was she even trying to teach this girl? It wasn't like she wanted to take the state alchemist exam or anything. Maybe giving up on this useless soul was the best idea.
"Why don't you just return to where you came from before I kill you?" Avarice stated.
Claudia looked at the girl, distraught, "Why would you want to kill me? I am obviously not a threat to you."
"Oh, yes you are. Whether you know it or not, you are an alchemist, and I hate alchemists. That means I have to kill you. You better get out of my sight before I decide it's a good idea to boil your blood."
There was a menacing look in Avarice's eyes. She was thirsting for Claudia's death. All of Claudia's instinct told her to run, but her legs wouldn't move. It was as if someone was holding her down.
Avarice looked straight into the girl's eyes and lifted a hand. The eye contact was crucial if she could not have physical contact. Boiling blood was her favorite past-time, and she had not gotten the chance to in so long. Her mouth watered with anticipation.
As Avarice started to concentrate on the red liquid she could sense rushing through the young girl's veins, there was a flash of light. Claudia broke eye contact with her torturer and turned toward the flash. It was like the flashes that happened when she was coming into the room. Avarice swore under her breath that she had lost her victim.
Claudia watched a man in a blue uniform with a sword sheathed at one hip walk into the room. His bearing was proud and tall. He stood straight up and had a patch over his left eye. He had black hair, dark skin, and a mustache. His voice held the ring of authority.
"Claudia, I see you are finally out of bed. This must mean that you are fully recovered. I am glad, you sister really is a great doctor, especially with her use of alchemy in the treatments. You must be quite proud of the accomplishments both of you have completed, apart and together. Now that's quote enough chitchat. I am truly here looking for you because there is another mission I need you to do for me. We seem to have lost the location of the Elric brothers. I want you to find them and track them. Do all your reporting to me."
Claudia gaped at the orders from the official in blue. He certainly had a lot of power and was not afraid to show it. She wanted to question him to see if he had any information, but this was not the type of man you asked for help. He expected you to know exactly what he was talking about.
"Yes sir. I will search for the Elric brothers," was all she could say.
Who were these Elric brothers anyway? Was she supposed to know?
Avarice snickered, passing it off as a cough. Was the Fuhrer stupid? Didn't he realize that this girl knew nothing? When Claudia had left the room, she turned to the Fuhrer, "You do realize that she is totally useless now, right?" she burst out laughing. "I didn't know the mighty Fuhrer was capable of such a tremendous mistake."
"Don't doubt me, Avarice. I have job for you, too. Go with the Golden Alchemist. Teach her what she has forgotten. And find me those Elric boys. One of them, the boys or her, will end up creating a Philosopher's Stone."
Avarice looked at the Fuhrer with disdain, "You've got to be kidding me."