*~*At Age 9*~*

"When are they going to come home? It's been a few months.... My birthday is coming up and they're going to miss it for the third time in a row thanks to the stupid military...." I sigh as I wash the dishes from my previous meal. I start quietly humming a song to myself when a knock on my door startles me. I jump and almost drop the plate I was holding. "Who can that be? I don't have any friends around these parts, and I'm pretty sure my parents have a key..." I say as I gently put the plate down, dry my hands and walk over to the door. I open the door to find two men in military suits standing there with serious expressions on their faces. I gulped, this could only mean a few things. One, something happened and they want to know if I witnessed anything. Two, I've broken some kind of law that I'm not aware of. Three, they've finally noticed my awesome abilities and decided to recruit me. Or four..... I really don't want to think about four.

"You're Miss Mai Hayes, correct?" asked one of them.

"Y-yes that's me..." I say timidly, hoping with all my heart and soul that it wasn't reason four.

"I'm sorry to say that...." the older one started.

"You've won a year long vacation in central!!!" exclaimed the younger and more hyper one. He was so energetic I couldn't help but giggle a bit.

"The real reason is... I'm sorry to say, that both your parents and brother were killed in the Ishbalan war," the other one said. My eyes widened and I let out a gasp. My worst fears had become reality.
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*~*At Age 12*~*

"Just a few more grams of salt, and traces amounts of 15 other elements," I mumble as I add the finishing touches to the ingredients. I fix up the chalk drawn transmutation circle since some had rubbed off when I was adding the elements. "I have all the ingredients for a human body, but what do I do for a soul? And who do I even bring back? I only have enough for one body. I know! I'll try to bring back Seth (brother), he has had the smallest time to live. I guess I can try to exchange some of my blood for a soul. That might work," I say as I stand up and walk over to get a knife. I walk back to the circle and hold my hand above it. I swiftly cut one of my fingers and let the blood drip onto the ingredients. "That should do it," I say as I kneel down and place my hands on the circle, activating it.

I see a giant gate open before me. There where tons of little black spirit things, and in that gate I saw knowledge beyond my wildest dreams. I blinked and I was lying on the floor in my basement. I eagerly look towards the circle to see a shape form. "Seth...?" I weakly call out. When the smoke begins to clear my eyes open wide with shock and horror. That thing was not my brother! I slowly stood up to my feet and started to try to get out of the house. I finally managed to get out, but the second I stepped out I collapsed.

"Urgh... where am I? And what happened? My head hurts like hell..." I groan as I sit up in a bed.

"Miss Hayes? Are you awake?" I hear a voice call out from behind the door.

"Yes, I'm awake. Where am I?" I ask as I get out of bed.

"You're in the hospital. Your neighbour found you outside your door unconscious and they brought you here," answers a voice, the door opens to reveal a doctor and a young nurse. "You're free to go home, there seems to be nothing wrong with you," the doctor informs me. I nod and leave the hospital. "Home, where is home?" I asked myself when I noticed I had no idea where I was. "That guy said I was found outside my house, but where is my house? What city am I even in?" I ask as I noticed I knew none of my surroundings.

*~*Age 14, Present Day*~*

I was studying hard for the alchemy test that was being held soon. I wanted to join the military and help people. After all their motto is, 'Be thou for the people.' Plus it seemed like a good place to help me with my goal. To become the most well known and powerful alchemist alive. I just finished drawing a transmutation circle. I clap my hands together to get rid of the chalk dust and then I lean back. The moment my hands touch the ground a wall appeared. I jump up in surprise and land on my newly drawn chalk circle. "Great.... there goes another pair of brand new pants...." I mumble as I try to get the dust off. "How did I do that though? There wasn't a transmutation circle there...." I say quietly to myself as I walk over to the newly formed wall. "Of course this had to happen in the middle of my apartment..... great....." I mumble as I start to draw a circle so I can fix my floor and ceiling.