Blackness.

The whole world seemed to be made from it; that and pain. She felt it rake through her body, like burning coals running through her whole body. White hot, and lik metal, it lasted for what felt like hours. It wasn't until it stopped, that that roaring in her ears died down. It grew into words, words she could hear, but couldn't see.

"Madame, are you okay?"

Still nothing. The sound was coming from her left, in that cold dark study. She was found in the center of a drawn circle, photographs scattered around her, most ruined by blood. She saw none of it, and none of the soldiers checking out what they believed to be a disturbance.

"Whose....there?" she asked, blindly feeling around. "Where am I?! What's Going on?!"

She scrambled to sit up, falling to her side and hitting her chin. She grunted and allowed herself to sit up, albeit with help.

It had been a long day. Lionel Stahlt had been called out early in the morning for a recent disturbance in town. Upon arriving, what he was greeted with was a large alchemy circle, blood splattered along it at seemingly random points. Several photos laid out around it, stained in the same blood. The most curious part of this scene, though, was the girl laying out in the center of it all.

Stepping around the circle, he let the medical team handle her, studying the circle itself. It was an oddly familiar site. The symbols etched out were very specific and it stood out to him. He couldn't quite place where it had been, though...

Then it hit him. His eyes widened in shock. He'd seen this before. It was the largest travesty one could commit with alchemy. Human transmutation. It had been attempted many times in the past, but it never yielded anything more than heartache and confusion. Even when something was brought back, it wasn't truly human.

Frowning in thought, he gestured to the men with him. “Tell the Captain I'm taking this one,” he ordered. He ran a hand through his black hair, sighing lightly. He felt an old ache in his chest as he thought over the cause of this.

That was when he heard the outburst. Stepping over to her, he leaned down, helping her to sit upright. “Calm down. You're alright. We're only here to help you,” he offered her softly.

The girl recoiled back, narrowing her eyes.

"Who are you?" she asked. "Why is no one telling me who they are? I can't exactly trust you if I don't even know who the hell any of you are!"

Her hand came forward, and felt a badge. "Wait...you're all Military," she said, letting her fingers dance around the edges. "Why are you even here....: her eyes narrowed. "Why am...I here?"

"You don't know?" the private asked. "Were you the one screaming?"

"Screaming?" the girl repeated. "I don't think so...I can't remember."

"Do you have a name?"

"Probably," she shrugged. "Wish I knew it."

"Amnesia," Lionel commented with a sigh. That was going to make this investigation so much fun. He could tell. "Must be blind as well. You didn't realize we were military until you felt my badge?" He shook his head, waving off the medical team. "The short of it. I'm a State Alchemist, Lionel Stahlt. We are here on reports of screaming and, in general, a disturbance in the area. You're currently sitting in the center of a very complex alchemy circle."

He slowly started to rise, keeping hold of her hand and helping her to her feet as well if she wished to stand. "Unfortunately, that's all we know. My assumption is that you attempted this ritual," he stated. "Your blindness and memory loss is most likely a side effect of the equivalent exchange. Do you remember anything from before you woke up here?"

"The alchemy part sounds familiar," she said, her smile mildly friendly. "I still know that."

"Selective Amenisia?" another private said. "That's ridiculous."

"But it's the truth!" She said, turning around.

As for the rest of his question, she frowned, looking down. "Not much," she said. " remember a lot of pain, with my head, and my whole body...it was like I was dipped in liquid metal. Otherwise, I just remember that I was supposed to be here for something; what that was is escaping me."

"Sir," the private said, approaching Lionel. " found some ID."

Lionel frowned, taking the ID and looking it over. "Anne Cypher," he stated, looking up to study her face in comparison to the picture. It was an easy match. With a sigh, he turned back to the private. "Look through the records. I want anything you find on Anne Cypher in my office. Family, history, whatever is there. We'll need to contact her family and work out what's going on." He watched as the private saluted him and ran off to do as ordered.

With that done, he turned back to the amnesiac with a small sigh. "I can't offer you much more than this. Let the medical team take you to their section of our HQ. They'll treat you there and work out if you have any other wounds or side effects other than this blindness," he told her. "Once you have been seen and taken care of, I'll have them escort you to my office. I will hopefully have more information for you then, along with your parents or whatever family I can get in contact with. Does that sound suitable for you?" He tried to keep his voice calm and careful, not wanting to distress her with the seriousness of the situation. This type of alchemy was forbidden. There could easily be more side effects, like was the case with the Elric brothers.

"Not like I have extensive options," she shrugged, holding onto the two soldiers. "As long as I get some help of some kind, I'll be fine."

That said and done, they lead the red-head out of the room. As she was taken to the hospital wagon, more of the privates began to scan the contents of the room. They found some basic alchemy books, some more advanced ones, and a scattering of different items; specifically a child's doll, a lace pink dress, and a locket.

"Well, she's not kidding about the Alchemy,"one of them said. "Find anything useful?"

"Just these pictures," the other said, holding up one. "Looks like she's in front of a mirror."

Lionel was still studying the scene before he shook his head and held his hand out. "Let me see them," he ordered, taking the pictures and looking through them for anything out of the ordinary. Once he was done, he slipped them into the pocket inside his jacket. "Gather the evidence here and carefully and take it to my office. Hopefully, something can actually jog her memory about." He shook his head, starting to walk back towards HQ. He needed to sort things out. Of course, first thing was first. He needed to start calling her family.

As he reached his office, he sat down at his desk, a file resting on his desk. All the information they had on her. It was pretty thin, making him frown a bit. He began rifling through the papers, trying to find what he could on her family.

There was a knock at the door.

"Um..." Anne's voice drifted from behind the wood, sounding very lost. "I think this supposed to be Officer Stahlt?" she said. "Can someone open the door?"

"Allow me, miss," The private who escorted her reached out and opened the door, letting the blind girl steadily walk in.

"Hey," she said. "Er, I mean, hello, sir. Um, I needed to talk to you..."

"Baraged her way out of the medical wing, sir," The private apologized. "I, er, followed to make sure she was okay."

Lionel looked up from the papers. He had discovered a bit about her family. He had found her father and mother after sifting through the files related to Anne Cypher. It appeared she had a twin sister. One that was dead, apparently. That complicated things, but he had slowly been able to draw together what had happened. Anne must have attempted human transmutation to bring her sister back. There was no known case in which the deceased party survived, but...well, Edward and Alphonse Elric had made an exception to that rule. So there was one question left.

Was this Anne Cypher? Or the twin sister?

Well, he would have to figure that out as he investigated further. Setting aside the papers for the time being, he nodded at the girl. "It's alright. Private, help her to sit please." He gestured to the chair in front of his desk. "Then wait outside. I'll need you to escort her back to the medical wing once I'm done." He waited for the boy to obey and, once the two were alone, he leaned back in his chair, regarding her. "What did you need to talk to me about?"

"Oh, where do I even begin?" she said, getting herself to a chair. "I'm so lost right now, and not just because of my eyesight."

With all the senses becoming so very overwhelming, she decided to start with the basics. "Could you tell me who I am, first off?" she asked. "Why I was even here, maybe?" The next part was the scary part, to make her clutch at her dress. "And....maybe what happened to me?"