"Are you telling me she woke up!" shouted a furious voice. "And no one told me?"

"Shut up you bloody git," someone hissed. "It's a damn infirmary—"

Another person shushed them harshly. "Be quiet, aru. She's still sleeping."

Something was knocked over. A bin of pencils?

"When did she wake up? Is she alright? Why isn't she awake now? Tell me, damn it," the first voice insisted.

A door opened.

"The reason why she's unconscious now is because we had to sedate her when she woke up screaming her lungs off," a new, heavily accented voice cut off the persistent boy. "We couldn't calm her down."

His friend must have come in as well, because a new voice said nervously, "I was so scared, Ludwig…it was like she didn't recognize us…"

"Bloody hell…"

"I-It's not that bad, right aru?"

"What did she say?"

A rumbling sigh. "Nothing that made sense. Things about oranges and the alphabet. It was mostly just screaming at us to leave her alone."

"Was there…anything about—"

Feet pounded into the room. "I came here as fast as I could!" interrupted a breathless voice. "Arthur-san, has she awakened yet?"

A sorrowful 'no'.

The door opened again. "Ah, looks like everyone is here! Except Francis, but he hasn't found out yet~"

Screech!

"You son-of-a-bitch commie bastard! What the hell did you do to her?"

Tense, awkward silence.

A childish, whining voice, "But I didn't do anything, Alfred."

"Stop lying, you mother f—"

"Bi zui!" snapped a voice. "This is no time for your stupid fights, aru."

More silence. "Ve~, I hope Utopia is alright…"

No one said anything, but there was an air of unspoken agreement.

xXx

White ceiling. Cool air and warm sheets against my skin. Hushed voices. Strange colors in my mouth. Unfamiliar skin; it itches like crazy. Are these…my thoughts? Scary, they were, as they shifted from one sense to the next. Without warning. Without reason.

When I opened my eyes, it was like waking up for the first time. Slowly, I sat up from the white bed of sheets, running my hand through my hair to get its messy tangles out of my face. Heat suddenly flushed through my veins.

Something was terribly wrong. I knew it before I realized there were people in the room and before they realized I was awake. It was a feeling of utter horror, the kind that makes your blood run cold sends shivers to erect the hair on your arms.

Who am I? I realized that I didn't even know my own name.