Okay, I swear that this story isn't a mary-sue story about me falling desperately in love with the Fullmetal Alchemist or Alphonse Elric. I'm not strong, nor witty, so please take the chance to at least read it a bit. I've worked very hard on this fanfic to not let your hopes down because of an idiotic plot or OOC characters. Please just try it! Review if you think I did pretty good! If not, please don't flame me.

Disclaimer: I wish I did, but I don't own FMA.

Chapter 1: What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

Clair's POV

"Ed! Alphonse! Where are you?" I screamed at the top of my lungs, my voice echoing in the thick blackness of the chilly night.

A cold, physical feeling of dread hung in the air, shivering down my spine as someone tied me with chains. The culprit hidden in the midst of shadows, I was unable to glimpse their face, and I swallowed in self-pity as I waited for someone to rescue me - if anyone knew I was there, anyway.

Suddenly, two, beady, forest green eyes pierced the dark beside me, clear among the many empty boxes around them. The man behind the eyes wore a black trench coat and a grin, stretched madly across his face. I didn't like him.

"What do you want?" I asked with a glare - though my fear was evident, judging by the reflection in his greedy eyes.

"Nothing much," the man chuckled. "just for you to scream. No, not much at all." he smirked psychotically, voice twisting with pleasure, and I turned my eyes away as he inched closer, twirling a knife in his right hand. I began to struggle, scraping and jangling my chains against the iron pole I was bound to, but I realized it was too late when he lunged.

Then, in a flash, I saw two golden eyes glaring in the darkness behind him, accompanied by a pair of glowing, empty soul-eyes as well. The blond that the golden gaze belonged to swiftly jumped out of the shadows and slammed his boot on the man's back, forcing him to lie on the ground, probably unconscious.

Alphonse stepped in and flipped on the light switch, making my eyes burn - but joyful tears wiped down my face nonetheless. After Ed untied me, I hugged and thanked him frantically. "I'm sorry!" I breathed. "I'm a liability, ain't I?"

"No, Clair, we're just glad you're safe!" Alphonse cried from the corner.

Ed smirked. "Yeah, you're worth it. But you need to wake up now."

"Wait- what?"

My eyes shot open and I blinked a few times, whimpering quietly as I realized I was in my bed.

"Time for school, honey!" Mom yelled outside my door. I sighed; of course it was just a dream. I knew it was too good to be real. Damn. Well, at least I'd meet them again tomorrow night. In my dreams...

"My best friend gave me the best advice," I started singing when my mom left the room - If Today was Your Last Day by Nickleback - to somehow wake me up. "each day is a gift, and not a given right..."

I looked at the clock to find that it was six-twenty, an hour before my friend would arrive to drive me to school. I listened to Nickleback's Lullaby and Three Days Grace's Time of Dying while getting ready for school, grabbing the first few things on my dresser: blue jeans, a dolphin shirt, and my sapphire colored jacket. Afterwards, I checked myself in the mirror to put my contacts in and do my hair. When I was finished, I looked at myself critically. "At least I match." I shrugged, letting out a slight snicker.

As I headed down the hall, I smelled burnt bacon. "Good morning!" I cheered to Mom, grabbing a piece of the crispy meat and nibbling on it. "Tastes good," I complimented, though lying. "Have the other two left already?"

"Yeah, your brother and sister left twenty minutes ago to get on the bus." Mom informed me. "Aren't you lucky? You get to eat at home and ride with your friend to school." She gave me a smile as she went on to make the eggs.

"Yep, I'm lucky alright." I agreed, finishing up the burnt bacon.

Thirty minutes passed after I ate, ten of them being just boredom, and the rest was me playing on the computer and procrastinating my homework until I had to leave for school.

"Yuki's here!" Mom called, and I grabbed my stuff - lunch, book-bag, and flute - before heading out the door.

"Kay-bye, see ya!" I told her, then walked over to Yuki's crazy, blue car - I wasn't sure what kind of car it was, but it looked ridiculous - and sat in. "Good morning." I smiled at Yuki's family, but they didn't even notice me.

"Well, you're the one that didn't get me up this morning!" yelled the seven-year-old girl in the vehicle. Yuki shook her head and started to play her music to ignore them like she always did.

"I yelled at you three times to wake up!" Yuki's mom screamed at her sister as she pulled out of my driveway.

"You should've woke me up four times-"

"Katie! We can't go through this every day!"

"Just shut up!" Katie yelled in a I-hate-you tone.

I shrugged to myself and face-palmed lightly before turning on Pokemon Sapphire on my Gameboy - my favorite one - and ignoring the rest of the argument.

When we arrived at school, nothing had changed. It was the same brick building, same people coming in and out, and overall same boring, dull atmosphere that nobody wanted to be part of. "Hey, you have your mood necklace on." Yuki noticed as we got out of the car; she pointed at it.

"Yeah, it's blue, so I'm calm now," I smirked. "This mood necklace works pretty well on me; it hasn't turned red for love yet." I laughed.

She chuckled. "Those things never work. And you know," she added thoughtfully. "I've never seen you embarrassed, Clair."

"Me either," I replied, and she laughed again.

We headed into the building then, and I put my flute in the band room before joining my second period partner - and good friend - to see if she'd completed her homework. Most people called our second period "the smart people math class." It was meant for Juniors, but I signed up for it; I was one of the few students in my school who actually wanted to go to college.

"Yup!" my friend replied cheerfully. "I didn't understand half of it, but I had an answer for them all." she smiled, her brown, curly hair wobbling while she ate her strawberry pop tart. "So, how did you like the Halloween Party with my family?"

"Awesome! I'll be there next year for sure-" I started to compliment, then the bell rang for first period. I looked up. "Oh, sorry, gotta go!"

"Don't worry, I gotta go, too." her voice came sweetly, brown eyes trailing off as she dumped her tray.

Seventh period, my favorite period of the day. Band class!

Well, I lied actually; it wasn't my favorite period because of the people in there, but it was less stressful than the rest. Yuki played her clarinet, while I played my flute for warm-ups. Then we played a few Christmas songs for the holidays.

After band, my green watch read three o'clock - or the end of another day in my case. I joined my artist buddy, who drew the best anime and creepypasta pictures, until her bus arrived, then I hung out with two gay guys. Not sure if they were dating or not yet, but they were definitely nicer than anyone else at my school.

When my bus finally came, I climbed in and sat in seat seventeen. Then, within ten minutes of warm sunlight shining through my window, I fell cozily asleep on my Fullmetal Alchemist themed bag.

The walls crumbled around me as I sat still, watching the wallpaper peel and burn, consumed into ash when it hit the fire. The sound of crackling wood, breaking within the fire, surrounded me on all sides, and every time I turned my head I covered my cranium, afraid the ceiling would fall and crush me.

The intensity of the fire started to bellow around me in a defiant haze. I tried to see a way to escape this horror, but couldn't find a way out while wood and ashes formed a barricading circle around me. I started to cry as fear rose up from deep within my throat. "Help!" I choked out, coughing my head off because of the smoke building in the area.

Strangely, I didn't recognize where I was. Maybe an empty warehouse, but what was I doing here? Where were my family and friends?

"Clair!" I heard a familiar voice in the distance, clear regardless of the smoke that would have held anyone else back.

"Al?" I breathed hopefully, and almost on cue - yet unexpectedly - Alphonse leaped through the ring of fire, scooping his arms underneath my half-burned body.

"C'mon," he urged as he briskly helped me to a stand, lifting me into his arms. His armor creaked. "Hang on, okay?" I closed my eyes briefly and nodded, then he leaped across the fire and ran outside to safety. There he chuckled, obviously shaken by my close encounter with death. "We need to stop meeting like this."

I laughed in agreement and gazed into his soulful eyes. "Yeah, we do, don't we?"

"C'mon Al, we have a train to catch!" Ed argued - having appeared out of nowhere - without even glancing at me.

"Of course, brother!" Al called, then turned his helmet back to me. "Would you like to join us?"

"Is that even a question to ask a girl like me?" I almost gasped. "Of course I will!" I chirped happily as he set me down on the brick road. I willingly followed when he started running...

"Lori, Clair fell asleep again! C'mon we're at your house! I want to get home, too!" cried a seventh grader in the seat in front of me, speaking to the bus driver.

"Ugh," I groaned briefly while rubbing my eyes. 'Another dream,' I thought, then grabbed my stuff to head off the bus.

"You sleep?" the bus driver laughed as I passed by.

I sighed and decided to ignore the comment. "Have a good one."

"Bye." she waved as I headed out and up to my house.

When I walked inside, my mom blurted, "Are you still going to the Evening of the Arts with Yuki for school tomorrow?" before I could unplug my earbuds - with her deaf ears and loud mouth, I could still hear her.

"Yeah, of course. I'm in the band, so me and Yuki have to go. Why?" I questioned.

"You never tell what you're doing half the time, so I like to be sure. How was your day, anyways?" she asked kindly.

I shrugged. "Fine, I guess. Boring as usual." I passed her and headed down the hallway to my room.

After unloading my bag of art equipment and math homework, I worked on them for the next four hours. With 118 math problems for homework, I was surprised how early I finished; my art project was half-way completed as well.

"Now what should I do?" I sighed. "Sleep?" My clock read eight o'clock, but who goes to sleep that early? I stayed in bed and read Fanfiction until ten, then let my head hit the pillow.

My eyes shot open as I staggered awake, blue and green irises pulling away from the bleak, bright whiteness of an area I somehow recognized - but couldn't remember how quite yet. I blinked. Where was I? What happened? ...Which way was up?

I quickly got over the disorientation, however, and jut my senses out, listening for voices, searching for someone, and trying to feel...anything. The process gave me a dizzying headache, but I spotted a set of perfectly white teeth grinning at me a bit to my right; they seemed to be suspended in midair. But, squinting my eyes, I realized there was a humanoid, female shape around them. "Truth?" I gasped. "No, i-it can't be! It's preposterous!" I started hyperventilating and stumbled backwards, but quickly found myself blocked by a giant, grey door: The Gate.

"Wait...Yeah, this isn't happening," I shook my head; this obviously wasn't real. How could it be? "I'm dreaming just like I do every other night!" I exclaimed, trying to keep myself sane. 'Not real. Just a vivid dream.'

Truth grinned wickedly. "I'm glad you know me, but this isn't a dream."

"Yes it is, and you're not going to convince me other wise, Grinny." Yep. Keeping myself sane.

"What did you call me?" Truth seemed almost offended, but then he/it/she chuckled. "I've never heard that one before. I've been called many things - God, or Truth, or All, or One. I am everyone, even-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know the drill." I growled; my sanity and humanity would not hold up this way.

"Oh, you think so, do you? Well, then," Truth laughed. "Shall we get down to business?" Its grin became wider as it sat cross-legged, an eminent aura surrounding the white 'body'. "You came to me for a very special purpose."

I came here? I thought to myself. 'Last time I checked, after you close your eyes you don't randomly wind up somewhere unless it's a dream.'

"Wait- What purpose could that be?" I asked, rethinking if I should trust him.

"I want you to give the Elric brothers something to make the game more interesting." he explained; his evil grin became more like a smile of his own enjoyment.

I frowned; I wouldn't let myself believe this yet - but it was so real. I decided to interrogate 'The Truth'. "So what's my Equivalent Exchange? Do you want my arms? My legs? Or maybe my eyes, vocal cords, or eardrums for your...scheme?" I really didn't want to lose any part of my body, but after I thought about it, I would be okay with Truth taking one of those things to let me pass through the Gate 'unharmed'.

It shook its head and faced me like I was an idiot with my head screwed on too tight. "You don't get it? Since I called you here, you don't need to worry about that. Instead, I want you to have this." He tossed something, and I found a little white stone flying right at me, hitting my stomach. I caught the object, peering at it; it sparkled abundantly with an everlasting glow, and it somehow made me smile at its mysterious potential. "Just a suggestion," the Truth continued, a concentrating frown on its...face. "Eating it first would save you trouble later."

I stared at him with a you're-deranged look. "Are you insane? Uh-Hm..." Right, of course he was insane. But Truth had to tell the truth, right? "Fine, I will..." I started momentarily, then trailed off as I closed my eyes, held my breath, and shoved it down my throat. Damn, that was unpleasant.

Truth suddenly started cackling. "Ha! I can't believe you fell for it! You didn't have to eat it, but now you have more power than the Philosopher's Stone." The thing started grinning again, leaning its chin on his fist.

"What!" my jaw dropped, my breathing was more staggered than before, and my legs wanted to scoot farther from him, but I couldn't because the Gate began to open behind me. I trembled in terror as black hands engulfed my waist, snaking around my limbs and gently embracing my neck. I shuddered.

"Oh, forgot to mention!" Truth snapped his fingers. "Have fun! And you remember those dreams from earlier? That was a part of my testing. As you can see, you passed."

My head shuddered as a mind-spitting headache sliced straight through it, and my nerves lost control. The hands started to take me into a black hole inside the Gate.

Images passed through my mind; I almost thought they were the Truth, or the answer to everything inside the Gate. But it wasn't, and some part of me knew it. My head didn't feel like it was going to explode with information; explode with a migraine...maybe. Ugh.

The darkness slowly faded until I saw an unknown place - a peaceful farm village. The moon rose high above the clouds... Then a wooden roof replaced them, and I saw two eyes, staring right into my soul. A young man in tattered clothing carried a knife in his right hand, playing with it back and forth, swinging it between his fingers. Now, I huddled in a corner, unable to move from terror at the man - as if the Gate's horrors weren't enough.

"This is my town!" the man screamed, and a sharp pain sliced through my throat - his knife, probably. I thought I was dying, and then...

I woke up in front of The Gate, barely able to breath.

"I never cuss, but DAMN IT, Truth!" I screamed, standing and whirling on the supposed deity. "You sent me that...that vision, didn't you? It's the future, a-and you're sending me to the other side of the Gate to kill me, to TORTURE me! I never though you were this cruel!"

It only grinned.

The hands squeezed tighter and tighter like snakes, constricting until my heart stopped pumping. They dragged me in, and I could see through a crack in the closing Gate the Truth waving his goodbyes. "Good luck!" he snickered; I struggled to get myself free and show Truth a piece of my mind, but the door slammed shut, echoing with a heavy, durable sound across the void of never-ending darkness.

I screamed at the top of my lungs, trying to move my feet and arms, to resist the hands and those beading eyes, but...

I passed out.

"Ugh," I mumbled, eyes glued shut, and rolled over groggily. I pushed my hands to the ground and tried to stand, only to fall on my stomach. My vision was blurred, but I could see the grass underneath my stomach and a willow tree swaying behind me, its branches tickling my spine and the back of my head.

In an instance, I jumped awake, leaning against the willow's trunk to get a glimpse of the landscape. The land was a flat plane with a few shrubs and endless fields of corn and wildflowers. Animals, such as deer, gazed the area in hopes of food. "Okay, so I went through the Gate, I made it to the other side, and now I'm looking at Amestris." I told myself in a serious tone, but I couldn't believe what I was saying; I scoffed. "Nah, this is all just a dream. But wait- Truth said it was real, right? Truth can only tell the truth, so this is Amestris. But if this was a dream, Truth would have no choice but to lie, unless he were to say this was a dream..."

I shook my head, having made myself more confused than if I'd seen a purple polka-dotted giraffe - but how weird would that be?

I lay there, frozen, for what felt like hours, thinking about what I could do if it was Amestris. I thought about how I would never see my folks again, what I should say to the Elrics when I first met them - if I met them - and what I could do to help them on their journey, though that wasn't much; I had some brains, but definitely not the same as Edward, and I wouldn't hurt a fly if I had to.

After a while, I almost forgot that this might not be real; the day began to freeze as the sun started to set against the horizon. "Fake or not," I growled." I'm going to live as though it were real." I promised to myself that dying wasn't an option; I would fight to stay alive if I needed to.

I stood and walked across the many branches and bushes that scattered the land, eventually finding a small town exactly like the little farm-village I'd seen in the vision. I rubbed my eyes, uncertain, then walked down toward the village. A few people roamed the dirt roads leading to it, and many man, young and old, plowed the fields nearby for harvest. I wanted to speak with one of them to give me a...sign or something, but I wasn't sure what to say.

Oh well, I'd never know anything if I didn't try. "Uh, hey," I waved my hands to get the attention of a nearby group of men. One of them perked his head, but didn't reply. I was alone.

The wind picked up and blew my blonde hair around with some crimson leaves. I covered myself with my sapphire blue jacket and followed the dirt road to the rural town.

The people in the town gave me dirty glances when I walked pass, obviously more baffled than vexed, but still bitter. As the sun began to die farther and farther behind the mountains, daughters, sons, and husbands hurried inside before the night hit twilight. Alone in the dark, I sat on the side of the road and began to cry. It wasn't like when school seemed stressful or when I was having a terrible time...

No. Today, I was going to die.

I couldn't stop replaying the scene in my head - the one that Truth showed me. I knew it would happen; it was inevitable. That man with the knife...

Tears swelled in my eyes, spreading like wildfire down my face until it hit my jeans, coat, and hands. I knew I wasn't solving anything by crying, but I couldn't even stop myself, what could I do to stop the future?

After a half an hour - I kept time on my green watch, weirdly enough - I stopped crying. I needed to stand up for myself. If I stayed there, the man would find me for sure.

I walked through the village, jumping at any movement - including dogs barking, and cats yawning on front porches.

Suddenly, a man snatched me from the shadows, holding his hand across my mouth before I could scream. He forced me deeper into the village to an empty shed where the houses couldn't see us. Rakes, hoes, shovels, and other tools pulled by bulls were inside. The man threw me to the ground, growling, "I thought you were from the military with that blue coat, but maybe I was wrong."

"What? No, no, no, I'm not part of the military. I'm new here, that's all!" I yelped. Huge understatement. I shielded myself with my arms, whimpering, "Don't hurt me! Please!"

"Now who said I was going to hurt you?" he smirked, pulling a dagger from his pocket. "Though I might if you don't give me the information I want. You must know something about that bastard military with a coat like that. Nobody would go around dressed in that shade of blue." He glared.

"No, I swear I don't know anything!" I squeaked in terror. He spun the knife around in his hands, frowning.

"Do you know a boy named Edward Elric?" he questioned. "He's about the same age as you."

"Y-yeah," I whimpered. "who wouldn't know the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

He grabbed me, bringing my face to about two inches from his own. "So you do know about the military, but you won't tell me!" He licked his lips; his breath had the smell of liqueur. I scooted back, but, same as the Gate, I hit a corner, unable to escape. Not only was he a foot taller than me - probably six-foot-something - he was more muscular than my dad, and nobody wanted to mess with my dad. This guy was literally over my head.

Please, someone, save me! Save me! I screamed silently to myself - though I knew no one would ever get my mental SOS signal, but it couldn't hurt to try, right?

The man's emerald eyes pierced right through me, burning with a fiery hot fury. Then, suddenly, he sliced through my jugular in a swift haze, hollering, "This is my town, bitch!"

Agony shot through my throat, spine, and any other part of my nervous system with an indescribable sharp pain. My heart quickened; my head hit the wooden walls and the oak flooring before I quite simply... died.

"Ugh, my head," I moaned as consciousness was returned to me. I barely remembered what had happened, but I tried not to think too much about it as I sat up against the corner - which was covered in cobwebs galore - before glancing at the man. He had an empty case of alcohol beside him, and he was starting on his second. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head to wake myself up, then realized my hands and feet were tied. "Let me go!" I struggle to speak and get free, still fuzzy from before.

"I let you go after you tell me how you did that." The man glared, taking another slip. He didn't seem surprised by my waking up after...what had happened again?

"Did what exactly? Please tell me, because I don't even know how I'm alive!" Once I'd said that, my memory came back to me like a ton of bricks being hit by a freight train. "Wait- You killed me! KILLED ME!" I started hyperventilating.

"It's funny really," he gave a small laugh, and I decided to listen. "I never wanted to harm you. I just wanted to know if you knew anything about the military, but when you didn't know anything, I snapped." He chuckled some more and took a gulp of his alcohol. I wonder what caused him to snap? I thought sarcastically as I watched; I was beginning to calm down mentally.

"Why do you hate the military so much, anyways?" I questioned. I knew it wasn't any of my business, but I had some time to kill before someone came to save me. IF they came to save me, that is, but I wasn't sure who would. The Elric brothers? Ha.

"I fell in love with the most beautiful gal in the world," the man mumbled drunkenly. "Once the fighting sparked, my wife and children were one of the first to be killed because I was supposedly 'betraying' the government, and I had to repay me for what I did." He sniffed and looked over at me. "You see, my wife was an Ishvalan."

"I can't believe it," I gasped. "I'm really in Amestris. And this isn't a dream either; I know that now. So, can you tell me how I survived?"

"Hm, that's an excellent question..." He stared at the ceiling, taking a chug of white wine this time. I'm actually surprised he didn't question my comment on dreaming, but thank Gate for alcohol, I suppose. The light showed me all the little wrinkles on the face of a 40-year-old, bitter man. "I'm not sure," he finally continued, "but after you passed out, a light emerged, engulfing you in a whitish-blue light. Almost like, uh...alchemy. But not. When the light faded, you were completely healed."

Did I hear correctly? That sounded like alkahestry to me, but I didn't know a thing about that. Since seventh grade, I'd learned all there was to know about alchemy, but maybe brushing up on alkahestry would've been a better plan...

"I thought for a while that you were my guardian angel coming to save me or something," he said in a down-to-earth tone - finally. "But you're just a kid. There's no way you could be older than thirteen."

"I'm fourteen, almost fifteen," I replied, twisting uncomfortably in my bonds. "And trust me, I'm more than sorry for everything you've been through. I can't know what it's like, but I do know I'm not your guardian angel - or I hope not, anyways. And I'm sorry to tell you this, but sometimes questions just can't be answered. I have no idea how I healed myself. Maybe by using some kind of alkahestry...but I don't know anything about it. All I do know is that someone, or something, is protecting me and I wanna find out what it is." After I was done speaking, the man sat his wine to the side, crawling over to me with a knife in his hands. "Please don't hurt me again!" I squealed, all the former wisdom replaced by fear. Suddenly the ropes dropped on the floor. I blinked. "You freed me?"

"Here," he gave me a few bills - or Cens, I guess was what they called it here - and sighed. "I want you to take the next train out of the country. You're too innocent to belong in a place like this. Promise me that you'll leave and never return."

"I promised," I lied, giving a fake smile. Then I ran out into the morning daybreak, through the mist, and to the nearest train station. It took me a while to find it, but I got there eventually and found myself giving the money to the nice woman there who sold train tickets directly. "To Central, please." I asked politely, ending up with a few Cens left to spare. I took my ticket. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she smiled. "Your train will arrive in about an hour."

Author's Corner: I'm sorry for so many line breaks everywhere, but there's usually switching first person involved, but for the moment I'm the only point of view there is. If you've made it this far, please review something about this story if you will, because there's one pet-peeve I have with this website, when over four hundred views your first chapter, yet only like eight review. Please give me something. Did you like it? What do you think will happen when Clair meets the Elric brothers? Do you think she'll meet the Elrics next chapter?

I feel like I should say more, but I don't know what else to say... Thanx for reading! XD

Started: November 9, 2013

Betaed by honorable and fabulous, the Mysterious Illusion: Nov. 10, 2013

Words: 5,148 or roughly fifteen pages.