The table crashed to the floor in a flurry of papers and the wood gave a groan of protest before promptly collapsing in on itself. I glared at the flimsy TV table heaped in the middle of my room and leaned over the mess to yank my iPod out of the wreckage, untangling my headphones from a loose piece of debris. I glanced at the image on the screen and threw the offending object on my bed. The picture stared back mockingly.

A coffin was halfway down into the grave, surrounded by military personnel. I held in tears with sheer willpower, and turned away from it, grabbing the bag that was hanging from the bedpost, as well as the knee length khaki jacket that was trapped underneath it. Swinging my bedroom door open with more force than was probably necessary I called out to my Aunt Samantha.

"Sam, I'm headed out for the library."

She poked her head in from the kitchen, flour dusted across her lemon yellow apron, and caught in her dark blonde hair. Her green eyes surveyed me warily,

"What do you need from the library? You are aware we have wifi, right? Besides, I thought you were marathoning that anime your brother recommended for you. You loved it yesterday."

I shook my head rapidly.

"Your use of the past tense is the key here. Love-ED. Formerly. As in, no more. It was amazing, until they killed Hughes again. And Roy was crying! Well, he said it was raining, but that was probably to save face or something…In any case I am now DONE with Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood! I'm now going to the library to pick up that summer reading for AP English."

Sam looked at me blankly for a second before rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, whatever just make sure that you're back by 7, Taylor should be back from work early and we can all eat dinner together. Why don't you just download the eBooks for those? It's much less work and takes up less space."

My house keys clinked as I grabbed them from the bowl on the sofa table by the door,

"You know very well that virtual books can't compare, they don't have the same smell and feel, plus if I'm going to remember this crap for the rest of my life I want the picture to be of traditional ink and paper."

Sam's demeanor changed almost automatically,

"About that, you've got your medicine, don't you? I would hate for you to have an episode in the middle of the library and be helpless. Maybe I should go with you just in case-"

I cut her off quickly,

"It's in my bag, I can handle myself. I've been dealing with this for a very long time now."

She looked unsure, "Yeah, you have, but no one really knows how an eidetic memory affects those in their teens, everyone else grows out of it between 6 and 12, that medicine isn't actually foolproof…"

Rolling my eyes again I waved as I walked to the door, "I know, I know. Believe me, I know the statistics. I'll be fine, see you at dinner Sam."

I caught my reflection in the hall mirror and stopped. Brown eyes stared back, set on a thin face framed with chin length, scraggly, coffee brown hair. It wasn't frizzy, curly, or straight. It was caught in that no man's land of extreme waves that made it look like I had just crawled out of the shower and bunched my hair up in a towel for 7 hours straight. My bangs were parted slightly to the left and were about eye length when they weren't swept off to the side.

I ran my eyes over my outfit to make sure that it matched. A Red t-shirt that proclaimed 'Dawn of the Daleks', dark boot-cut jeans, and ankle high black converse. My khaki jacket was a birthday present from my brother. It was a custom order female version of the tenth doctor's trench coat, and had a bewildering amount of hidden pockets on the inside. With one last disapproving look at my hair I charged out the door, swinging it shut behind me, and took off at a brisk pace for the library.

I had acted nonchalant in front of her but Sam's words brought back old worries. An eidetic memory was as close to perfect as was recorded so far, and even then it had its limits. How clear the mental image was supposedly faded after a few minutes, and the ability to keep the perfect recollections for even that long was supposed to fade around six years old. My brain had baffled doctors when I kept the images clear for indefinite amounts of time. And even more so when it lasted as long as it had. I was 17 and going into my senior year of high school with my memory still the way it had always been.

Remembering everything took its toll on me. I had trouble sleeping and my appetite faded. I was too thin, and any muscle I had from sports as a child had faded years ago. The only thing that kept my weight acceptable was a slight addiction to soda pop and various other junk foods, though it wasn't ideal in any sort of way. The kind of attention the ability brought was also unwanted. Teenagers didn't want a friend who would remember their every mistake, and who didn't even have to try to pass tests. Bullying was common, I tried not to care. There were always those that thought it 'cool', the other side of the metaphorical coin.

My most pressing issue was losing my mind. I was always told how brilliant it was, and how blessed I was to have what I did, but I didn't see it. I was constantly plagued with images, my head was getting crowded by the time I was around 14, when statistics and history stated the ability should have faded. I nearly went insane. But my brother Taylor came through for me, even if it was an accident. Apparently, a show starring a modern version of Sherlock Holmes had the idea of a mind palace. I heard the theory while my brother and I were watching the show. It all clicked. I couldn't get rid of the images, but I could move them. If they were organized they'd still be there and I could get to them, but they couldn't overwhelm me.

And that theory worked. But I would still have sudden attacks. It would be like a door opened in my mind and I was flooded with images. I was suffocating in them, and I couldn't tell where I was anymore, or what I was doing. I had collapsed in the mall before, when on my own, and had barely managed to take the anti-anxiety drug I had been prescribed for just that kind of situation. I had finally got my bearings and realized that no one had noticed. I could have been having a seizure and the people in that mall couldn't have cared less, being more worried about getting their shopping done.

Remembering the encounter nearly sent me into an attack, though I hadn't had one in quite a while by this point. I yanked myself out of it forcefully, just in time to notice that I had been walking for too long. I looked over my shoulder and saw the street I should have turned at a few blocks behind me.

I started to turn when I heard it, a low moan from the alleyway to my right. I took a few tentative steps forward and looked in cautiously. I noticed a large amount of blood pooled around a man wearing blue, the contrasting colors jumping out at me. I automatically took a step forward to see if I could help, but was stopped. I reached a finger up to the air in front of me and tapped the exact area I had just tried to push through. My finger rebounded off a barrier, sending beige ripples through the air. The man groaned again, causing me to shift my attention back to him. I had noticed earlier that the blue he wore was from the military uniform I had seen in the anime I'd only just abandoned.

I had assumed it was a mugged cosplayer but after seeing this 'magic barrier' I wasn't so sure. The man finally realized there was someone nearby and turned his head to face me. I had never seen this man before in my life, but he looked at me like I was an angel sent from god, his eyes filled with hope. He took a deep breath and managed to rattle out, "Help…me…"

He collapsed back down to the ground. I didn't know who he was, or what was going on, but I did know that I didn't want to be like those people from the mall, who walked by tragedy too concerned with themselves to help another human being in danger. I made my bony left hand into a fist, mindful of my class ring on the other hand; I didn't really feel like having to help that man while nursing my own broken knuckle. I thought back to my brothers' pointers on self-defense before I sent a punch flying at the barrier, orienting my wrist as I had seen my brother demonstrate to me all those months ago.

More ripples spread across the alley, these were more fierce, and I felt I was getting somewhere. I sent hit after hit, even throwing in a few kicks. Eventually, the ripples were everywhere, it looked as if the entire barrier were vibrating, then it stopped. There was no dissipation like with the previous ripples. These stopped in the middle of where they were going. Everything was completely and utterly still. Then the barrier went from clear, to pure white.

A figure of white outlined in fuzzy black formed in the space. It cocked its head at me and grinned. I had to hold back a gasp. I was right. That man had to be a real Amestrian, because this could only be the Truth, unless I'd tripped on my walk to the library and landed in a puddle of LSD. I gulped as it surveyed me, briefly questioning my sanity for what certainly wasn't the first time in my life.

"So, you dare to knock on the door? And very obnoxiously too."

Shocked and a little bit terrified I shook my head.

"I didn't mean it that way, I just want to get to that man, he's in trouble, and someone needs to help him."

I waited with bated breath as it seemed to think of a response. I thought it wasn't going to reply when suddenly,

"And you think that you are the person he needs?"

"Well, I am the only one here. "

If a god-like creature could roll its eyes, I bet that one did.

He stepped back away from the center of the barrier,

"You are only here by luck. The dimensions are weak here, leaving a hole; I'm just guarding it until it gets fixed. You say you want to pass through in order to help, what do you have to offer?"

I desperately searched my memory, positive what I was looking for was located in the 2nd-floor coat closet in my mind palace. I was right. I pulled out my cheap cell phone.

"A philosopher's stone would gain passage, right?"

"Yeeees, but you obviously don't have one."

"No, I don't, but all the stone is, is energy. Human lives condensed into a sort of portable battery for alchemists to use to fuel their transmutations. Well, here's a battery, portable energy. That works, right? Different sciences, but different dimensions. Poe-tay-toe, Poe-tah-toe and all that."

It laughed, its multitude of voices grating on my nerves, nearly sending me running for the hills, and making me doubt my conclusion. It paused for a second, the longest second in my life.

"Correct. You may pass, human."

My cell phone was grabbed by black hands and was pulled into the barrier. The barrier faded once it was touched by the cell phone. I took a step forward but paused when I heard the Truth speak again.

"But remember, there is no going back."

Those words made my blood run cold. He continued, "This rift is closing for good the moment you step through. Are you sure you're willing to give up everything for this one human you don't even know?"

I gulped, doubts surging through my mind. But I straightened my back and stepped through anyway. I would never forgive myself if I acted like those people; the ones who ignored me, who would have let me die. I wouldn't let a man die in front of me when I could change it. Besides. This rift...oddly specific wording, nevermind the possibilities implicated in a rift between dimensions. What human being had the capability to leave that alone? A boring one with more self-preservation than curiosity, probably.

I felt the barrier slip closed behind me, and struggled not to look back. I had made my choice, no going back.

The change of scenery disoriented me, the colors morphed drastically, and I nearly sighed in frustration. I guess I'm an anime character then. Joy. My skin was itching and I desperately wished for a mirror, and maybe a hospital. What sort of havoc would that odd sort of change have on my biology, dimension traveling and perspective change and all of that? It was enough to start a headache pounding somewhere in the attic.

I brought forward the memory of the health class we went over first aid in, using the pocket knife from one of my numerous pockets to rip my red over shirt, exposing my black tank top. It was several minutes before the bandages were in place and I had deemed it was safe to move the man. He had stuttered out that his name was Kyle earlier on, and I had asked random questions through the entire process in an attempt to keep him both awake and calm. I had learned that his fiancé was at home with their 2 dogs and one cat, which in his opinion was possessed by some sort of demon.

With Kyle leaning on me we stumbled towards the street, attempting to get out of the alleyway. Probably looking like quite the pair, burly military man leaning on a tiny teenage girl.

"Hey Kyle, not to pry or anything, but how did this happen?"

"I was helping in the pursuit of the Freezer Alchemist when I was shot by one of his rouge water bullets. I barely managed to pull myself out of the way of the fight before I collapsed. Thanks for the help, miss."

My heart skipped a beat. The Freezer Alchemist was the focus of the very first episode of Brotherhood. I was at the beginning of the series, if it followed the storyline at all. But if it did, I knew what would happen. For a while at least, I had given up after the burial of Hughes left me emotionally scarred.

As I stumbled down the street with an injured soldier weighing me down near to the point of collapse it finally hit me. I was in the world of the Brotherhood. An anime, and not even the version of it I was familiar with. All I knew of this one was what happened before Hughes death, and that the plotline was completely different from the one that I'd actually seen. Trying to tear myself away from worries over 'plot' and if it was even accurate I nearly laughed at the irony. Not even an hour after I swore to never watch the show again I ended up living in it.