I'm SOOOOOO sorry for the long wait! It's just that last week I couldn't get into the mood to write, and then I've had this horrid head cold all this week, so I haven't really been able to write, but now I'm telling myself that I'm not going to let this day go by without writing this freaking chapter! Grr. Gameface.

I discovered All Time Low. I have their album 'Nothing Personal.' Epicness. I now also own the first album from BoysLikeGirls. :D I also have 'Born This Way' from Lady Gaga, but that's really kinda \meh/. I prefer her first album . . . but whatevs. I have interesting music tastes for a girl. Punk-pop all the way, people! You can't beat the All-American Rejects, All Time Low, or BoysLikeGirls. Bieber can disappear. (They spelled his name wrong on the television screen in the mall . . .) A lot of other 'popular' singers can join him. Maybe Truth should just take them.

You don't have to agree with me if you feel differently.

Anyhow. Continuing on . . .

I can't believe this is the 50th chapter already. I've only been writing this for almost 6 months . . . I have 358 reviews . . . kewl. Well, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah. This is where things get a bit kick-started actionwise, and in one other way that you've all been waiting for! ;)

See you on the flip side!

I'll put the failed first attempt at this chapter at the end. It was interesting, but it just wasn't working for me.

-o-O-o-

16 February, 1917

Paradox. That can be the vocabulary word of the day. A paradox is a saying that incorporates two things that really shouldn't make sense together, but do.

In this case, we'll use 'the beginning of the end.' 'Beginning' and 'end' are two completely different concepts, and yet they work together in one simple saying that is used so many times, it's pretty much clichéd.

And how does this relate to the life of the girl Karmyn Marie Dallas?

Well.

The date was Friday, 16 February, 1917.

It was a rather lazy day. There wasn't much going on, mainly due to the medium snowstorm that had blown in that morning. People had gotten the idea that it was a day to stay at home in front of their fires instead of venturing out into the white flurries outdoors. In the Curtis house, it was much the same.

Alphonse sat against the wall underneath the window, his nose buried in one of his teacher's old books. He had the sneaking suspicion that he had already read this one a few years before, but that wasn't all that surprising. He and Ed had read almost everything they could get their hands on. Since he wasn't doing serious research, every now and then he would look up, twisting around to watch the fat white flakes dance their way to the ground where they would settle in a thick white blanket.

Across the room from him lay his friend of two months. She was lying on her back on the couch, her legs stretched out to full capacity. She, like himself, had her nose stuck in an alchemy book, although perhaps a bit more literally. She had fallen asleep sometime in the past few hours that they had been there, with the book resting over her face and her hands clasped over her stomach. Al had never seen her quite so vulnerable, at least not since she had recovered from the shock of arriving in Amestris.

In the time that he had known her, he had seen her go from the average (perhaps a bit above) intelligent high-school girl with a level head on her shoulders to a shocked and somewhat insecure girl, not completely sure of where she was or what she was doing. And then, in the past couple weeks, he had watched as she had developed somewhat of a shell, hiding how she felt on the inside, even protecting herself, with a tougher cover.

Sorta like that chocolate ice-cream topping on the other side of the Gate that froze hard when it was poured on the ice-cream.

Maybe that was the wrong comparison.

He supposed that it was somewhat necessary to develop a cover of sorts. He had watched Edward go through it almost a century ago, after the failed transmutation and as he went into the military. Even after they ended up on the other side of the Gate, they had both developed their own covers, their own shells to prevent themselves from slipping under the proverbial waves.

Karmyn shifted a little in her sleep, turning slightly. Al watched her with a skeptical eye. Just how late had she stayed up the night before? He knew that throughout the past week she wasn't getting to bed any earlier than midnight (Insomnia + Bedroom next door = Knowledge, in case you're wondering). Unfortunately, he had fallen asleep early for once last night, so he wasn't sure when she had finally turned the light off and gone to sleep.

He knew it wasn't really his place to be so worried. After all, there were nights when he and Edward had stayed up past dawn trying to get research done. Still . . . he couldn't help himself. He just was. She had already gone through so much on this side of the Gate, and sleep deprivation didn't need to be added to the list.

She twisted once again, although more violently than the first time, coming to lie on her side. Unfortunately, this also sent the large, hardcover alchemy book tumbling to the wooden floor. Alphonse cringed as the book landed with a loud wham! He had debated trying to stop its trajectory, but there wasn't any way that he could have.

Karmyn tensed as her eyes shot open, revealing the sapphire blue irises with the just as vibrant green bits that rested oddly in the bottoms. She blinked a few times before relaxing, letting her lids slip closed again.

Those eyes had always somewhat intrigued the boy. Besides his brother's golden ones, they were some of the most unusual ones he had ever seen. He had once likened them to a pair of twin horizons almost, with the way the green rested in the bottom of the iris. (A/N- Wanna see the actual eye? I finally created it! ht tp :/ the-turtle-alchemist . deviantart . com/ art/ Karmyn-Dallas-Eye-Colour- 276549153)

They could certainly hold one's attention, that was for sure.

In the past few months, the girl had easily become his best friend. He wasn't sure exactly when that had come about. It had been a gradual thing, and he wasn't quite sure when it had come about. When he first learned that she knew their secret, she had just been the blonde girl that sat in front of him in Chem class, the girl who had nearly run into him and his brother in the hall on the first day of school.

Which reminded him- the first thing he noticed about her then had been her eyes, too.

He looked back at her. He had never really examined her this closely before. They had always been on the move, always with some goal in mind. They hadn't had any down time for a while. Her just-past-shoulder-length hair was spread out on the arm of the sofa beneath her, a contrast between the yellow-blonde of the hair and the dark brown of the couch. She was wearing the black jacket they had made for her, the grey flamel resting over her black-panted leg. Her shirt was a purplish color.

Her mouth was open slightly as she breathed deeply in her sleep. That, along with her wayward hair and her slightly flushed cheeks . . .

Oh, God. Did he just think that his best friend looked cute?

And Karmyn, of all people?

Al bit his lip and wrenched his gaze back to his book quite flustered. This wasn't supposed to happen . . . he was the one trying to get Ed and Winry together. He didn't need issues of his own.

Maybe I'm jumping ahead of myself, he thought, this could be nothing.

Luckily, he was saved from any sort of internal banter when the telephone rang shrilly.

This woke the girl up. She jerked a bit, her eyes flashing open as she sat up, stretching. "What time is it?" she asked, somewhat sleepily.

"Uhm, I really don't know," Al said truthfully (and somewhat uncomfortably). "I'd better get that," he added, referring to the phone.

Karmyn nodded in agreement. "You do that."

Setting his book down, Al pushed himself into a standing position for the first time in hours. He paused a moment to get his balance before walking into the other room to get the telephone. "Hello, Curtis residence," he said upon picking up.

"Al, it's me," a familiar voice came through the line.

"Brother! How are you?"

"Actually, I'm great. The reason I'm calling is that General Armstrong requested my presence up at Briggs ASAP. I knew you wanted to be alerted as soon as that happened, soo . . . yeah."

Edward had never been all that great with the telephone.

"But . . . isn't it a few weeks too early? You're not supposed to go anywhere until March! What did Winry have to say?"

"She wasn't happy about it, but she said that as long as I didn't do anything strenuous, I'll be okay. I have full control over my arm and leg. I just can't do any heavy fighting yet."

"Alright," Al sighed, consenting. "I'll be there as soon as I can. I'll try to convince Karmyn to stay with Teacher- I don't think it would be a good idea for her to stay up at Briggs. But you know how she is- she'll probably insist on coming with."

"Knowing her, probably," Ed agreed. "Alright. I'll see you in a few days. Bye, Al."

"Bye, Brother!"

With that, he set the phone down and slowly walked back into the living room where Karmyn still sat on the couch, her blue and green eyes wide with curiosity. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "Brother's been called to Briggs ASAP, I'm going to meet him there, but if you want to stay here with Izumi to continue learning alchemy . . ."

-o-O-o-

Short chapter I know. It shouldn't be too long before I update again, promise. P.R.O.M.I.S.E. Okay?

And you get an extra bit . . . my original beginning that absolutely sucked.

-o-O-o-O-o-

The day everything began to fall apart occurred only two days later.

To put it in cheesy terms, 'the beginning of the end started with a phone call.'

16 February, 1917

Karmyn was getting somewhat impatient. Izumi had yet to allow her to actually try transmutation. She had been told that unless she could draw a perfect circle, it was pointless.

She had never been all that great with circles during geometry class.

But that was a whole 'nother story.

After her conversation with Alphonse days prior, she couldn't shake the jumpy feeling that had resided in her stomach. She didn't know why- they were perfectly safe here, weren't they? There were two strong alchemists living in the Curtis household at that moment, nobody would dare try anything, would they?

Maybe, maybe not.

The Homunculi were dead, right?

Maybe, maybe not.

The military wasn't corrupt anymore?

Maybe, maybe not.

And she, the girl who didn't belong, was in the thick of it?

Maybe, maybe not.

Who could really tell?

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She was sick of being cooped up inside, attempting to draw perfect circles. Only Djinn could do that. (Yes, she had read the Children of the Lamp series back home.) Tossing her piece of chalk to the ground, she stood up, stretching out her back. It was amazing how sore it could get from hunching over the floor for hours on end.

-o-O-o-

Well, that's it!

Sayonara!

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