Hello there, and welcome to the first fic I'm uploading on FF. This is actually the 2nd story I ever wrote. it's quite old, really. My OC, Lumina, is a Tales of Symphonia OC, and this is a slight crossover with Tales of Symphonia, but you do not need prior knowledge of the game to be able to read this fic.
I hope someone finds enjoyment in this; I know I'm not the best writer, but I've had this sitting on my computer for a long time and thought that someone may enjoy it. Review if you would like to, but otherwise, enjoy. :)
"Edge, I think we have a problem," the green-haired young man frantically exclaimed to his captain.
"What is it, Faize?" Edge replied in concern.
Before anyone could breathe another word, the space craft shook violently.
"What the hell?"
"Edge, we're being attacked by an unknown vessel!" Reimi, Edge's childhood friend shouted.
"We're going down, everyone brace yourselves!"
The crew of the Calnus held on to anything they could for dear life as their ship entered the atmosphere of an underdeveloped planet named Aselia.
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Lumina had just reached her 22nd birthday, but still had the appearance of a 17 year old. She had a thin, petite figure, skin that was pale white, bright, blue eyes, and pale blonde hair that fell to her waist which she had part of tied back in a pony tail, the rest falling loosely on her back. She wore a thin, sleeveless white dress that fell to her knees in ruffles, and loose sandals. Since she was a half elf, she naturally had a younger appearance than a normal human. However, she never had told a single person in this village of Ozette what she really was. She has passed as a human for nearly her whole life, and for a good reason too. Here on Aselia, half elves are treated as less than cattle, with the women commonly sold into being sex slaves, and the men were often labored to death, and even tortured.
Her caretaker, Gaius, was also a half elf, but he fooled the villagers into thinking he was an elf. He could not pass as a human like Lumina; his ears were pointy. Lumina inherited her human ears apparently, for they were round. Thankfully, this village was very small, and did not have anyone who could tell that they were half elves. Most humans could not easily distinguish the subtle differences each race held, and no one in Ozette owned any slaves who could potentially "rat them out". This is one of the reasons Gaius chose to stay in this small village with Lumina.
Lumina acted as this village's nurse of sorts, since she excelled at healing artes. Gaius had said that her mother blessed Lumina with that trait before she had gotten killed. Though neither of them could tell the villagers the truth, the pair genuinely liked the humans, and lived in harmony with them. Today was a special day in Ozette - the firefly festival. Lumina used to think that it was a festival celebrating her birthday when she was young, but quickly realized that it had been going on many years before her birth.
During the day, children would search the wooded area for sleeping fireflies, and capture them in glass jars. At night, when the stars were shining brightly, the villagers would watch as the children let the fireflies fly out into the starry sky, dancing and twirling together, forming spontaneous light trails as the bugs lit themselves up. It was truly a breathtaking sight. Today's festival would be the one that everyone would always remember.
Lumina pouted, leaning on the desk where Gaius made and sold his weapons. "Boooo, are you sure I'm too old to be in the festival?"
Gaius chuckled to himself. He ran his gloved hand through his thick, dark hair and shifted his pale, silvery-blue eyes to Lumina. "You may not look quite as old as you really are, but there's no need to take advantage of it. Besides, most kids stop at age 12, and you can't pass as 12 anymore. Sorry."
She sighed in reply, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "Fine, fine. But just because I'm older than I look doesn't mean I have to act like it."
Gaius smiled, but didn't reply to her other than that. He was a man of few words, with a very lax personality. Lumina would sometimes joke with him and call him old, though he barely looked older than his mid-twenties. In reality, he was several years older than she was, but his half-elven blood kept his appearance youthful. He had been a close friend of her father's, and took the responsibility of raising her when her mother passed, and had become quite close with Lumina in the years after.
"Hey Lumi, how about you go out and find those berries you love so much? They'd probably be pretty tasty with your cake later."
Lumina beamed at the suggestion, "That sounds great; I'll head out right away!" She cheerfully ran to the exit of the little weapon shop, only to be stopped.
"Hey, you know better than to go out unarmed. You never know what could happen. Here, take your bow and some arrows just in case." He tossed her bow and quiver over, both tightly bound with thick fabric to keep them in prime condition. She caught the quiver, but juggled the bow in her hands before dropping it to the floor.
"Oops.."
Gaius smiled and sighed, putting a hand on his hip. "Lumi, you need to be more observant, too. You may be a good healer, but you kind of suck at fighting. Though I guess you're okay with the arrows."
She stuck her tongue out at him and ran outside. It was a bright and sunny day, but the wooded village of Ozette shaded the village from much of the sun. It was quite nice in summer because of this, not to mention the hilly landscape giving off a nice breeze most of the time. She looked around and walked forward toward the more woody part of the area, waving at a few of the villagers as she passed. She saw many children pouncing on bugs, and heard even more groans of despair when they missed their target.
She walked to the area past the children, leaving Ozette's village line. She knew of a clearing up ahead which had the most ripe, sun kissed berries anywhere around, but never dared to tell Gaius that she left the village to find them. He would have a fit, and for a good reason. Her mother had been killed by humans, and her uncle basically blamed Lumina for all of it, so she had been told. They had been on the run from him for a long time now, and he was a very powerful man. She did not know what ever happened to her father, but this would be a story for another day.
She approached the clearing, excited as ever. The berry bush was right where she had always remembered it being, much to her delight. She approached it as if she were a carnivore closing in on her prey, and started to pluck the bright, red berries one by one. She'd normally just sit here and eat them, but she'd just take home as many as she could carry for right now. Still, it wouldn't hurt to sit here and eat them for a little while.
She situated herself on the lush, green grass, and happily ate the sweet berries to her heart's content. All was well, and all would have remained peaceful, but a rustle in the trees on the end of the clearing opposite of Ozette disturbed that tranquility. Lumina stood up, on full guard now, pulling out her bow and taking an arrow out of her quiver, ready to attack at any moment.
A figure started to emerge from the trees after some moments, as expected.
"S-stay back! I'll shoot! Just.. Stop, stop right there!" Lumina shouted, not sounding the least bit threatening.
A blonde man, muscular and much taller than Lumina, stumbled out into the clearing. He was wearing the strangest armor she had ever seen, and carried a giant sword on his back.
"Owwww, I must have tripped over that root.." The man looked up at the strange girl, still aiming her arrow straight toward him. He quickly stood up, raising his hands in the air.
"I mean you no harm; you can lower your weapon now."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because I have some friends that are hurt pretty badly. I came to get help, but I don't really know where I am. I'll leave if you want me to, but could you at least point me in the direction of the nearest settlement?"
Lumina eyed the man, slightly lowering her weapon, but ready to raise it again if he made any sudden movements.
"You say you have injured friends..?"
"I do. I'd appreciate any help I could get."
Lumina pondered this for a moment, closing her eyes and bringing her hand up to her face. This may be a trap, but if there were really injured people and they died because of her, she'd never forgive herself.
"Okay then, lead me to them. But stay in front of me, and don't make any sudden movements."
The man loosened up a bit, and smiled. "Thank you so much, Miss! I'll take you there right away."
He turned and walked back into the forest, Lumina following behind.
"Hey, Mister. What's your name?"
"Oh, I'm Edge. Edge Maverick. You can just call me Edge, though."
"Edge, what an odd name.." She quickly realized the insult she just made, and gasped, continuing on, "Oh, well not really odd or anything, I didn't mean it like, that, I'm sorry-It's just that I don't ever really hea-"
She heard the man chuckle, and stopped babbling to herself.
"It's okay, no hard feelings. Well, what's your name?"
"Oh, I'm Lumina. Umm.. I don't know my last name, so Lumina will have to do."
"Alright, Lumina it is. And we should be just about here."
The man lead her farther into the forest, but this area has several trees snapped, and the smell of burning.. Something. She couldn't identify it; it didn't smell like wood or any of the metals Gaius used to make weapons. A giant ship of some kind emerged into her view, made of a strange metal and lightly damaged in some areas.
"Wooooooowwwww, what's this?" She asked in awe.
"This is the Calnus. It's what my friends and I arrived on. Well actually, we crashed here, and that's how they got hurt."
Lumina scanned the area, and saw a boy with shoulder-length green hair working on repairing part of the Calnus.
"That guy looks like he's alright, though."
"Oh, that's Faize. Yeah, he wasn't hurt too badly; it's the girls inside who need medical attention."
Edge quickly lead Lumina inside of the ship, waving at Faize along the way, earning a strange look for bringing some random girl on to the ship. He shrugged and continued working on whatever it was he was repairing. Edge must know what he's doing, right?
)(
The girls weren't in life-threatening condition, as Edge had made it sound. Lumina figured he was just being a worried friend though, and was more than happy to be of assistance. Edge had told her their names; Reimi was the one who looked close to Lumina's age with a dark brown ponytail and more strange armor-like clothing, and Lymle was the small girl who looked to be no more than a 6 year old. She wore her very long, light brown hair in pigtails, and wore a pink dress similar to what Aselians normally wear.
They had several scrapes and bruises, and both had been knocked unconscious. Lumina didn't sweat the details, and proceeded to heal them to the best of her ability. A soft light surrounded her hands, and surrounded the injured girls. In a matter of seconds, the light faded, and while the cuts and bruises were still visible, they had been greatly reduced.
"There, that should help."
"Wait, but they're not waking up!"
Lumina brushed his concern off. "Relax, they're fine. They weren't hurt that badly to begin with, anyway. But still, it was good that you were so worried; next time it could be something much more serious."
Edge crossed his arms, not liking how lightly she had been taking the situation, but did not argue with her. He instead changed the subject. "So, are you a doctor?"
Lumina seemed surprised at the question, but then her expression fell. "Not really, but.. My mother was a master at healing the sick and the injured. Or so I've been told.."
Edge looked at the ground, realizing what she meant. "I'm.. Sorry to hear that."
"Edge, I think the ship should be able to reach Cardianon now," the green-haired boy announced as he walked in the ship. "It may not be in top condition, but this planet doesn't seem to have the resources to make any further repairs."
Faize looked at the two, realizing they must have been having an important conversation of some sort. "Oh, excuse me for the intrusion."
Lumina brightened back up again. "No, it's okay! We were just talking about how the girls are going to be just fine."
"Oh, that's wonderful to hear, after all, we couldn't leave without Reimi. Oh and, I am Faize Sheifa Beleth. You may call me Faize. What is your name?"
"My name is Lumina. It's a pleasure to meet you, Faize."
A yawn then echoed through the ship, and the trio realized that one of the girls must have awakened. They went to check on them, and saw Reimi sitting up on the cot she had been laying on, stretching her arms into the air. She turned to face them, a confused look on her face. "Edge, what happened?"
"We were attacked by an unknown ship, and we crash landed on.. Uh.. Lumina, what's this planet's name?"
"Oh! You're on Aselia. Welcome!"
Reimi raised an eyebrow, and faced Edge again. "Is it underdeveloped? Because if so, she seems awfully calm about it," she whispered to her friend.
Faize rubbed the bottom of his chin, having heard what she said. "Hmm.. Reimi does have a point. Don't we frighten you? We're not from your world, after all."
"Well, it's always been told in Elven legend that our ancestors came from another planet. It kind of just became a fairy tale after a while, but Gaius told me that it's very real, and that my uncle lives there right now."
Edge, Reimi, and Faize looked at her, not sure what to think about her explanation, but willing her to continue.
"Oh, and my uncle is really crazy, I guess." And that was all she had to say of the matter.
"Well alright then, so you're familiar with knowing that there's life on other planets?"
Lumina nodded in reply.
"Mmmm, be quiet, 'kay? I'm trying to sleep!" The small girl, Lymle, stirred in her cot, and sat up, a very pouty expression adorning her face.
"I'm sorry Lym, we were just asking our new friend some questions," Reimi assured her.
Lymle got up and walked to Lumina. She silently examined the taller blonde girl before making the decision to speak. "You can call me Lym, 'kay?"
Lumina giggled to herself because of how short and blunt the child's introduction was. "I'm Lumina, it's nice to meet you, Lym. I'm glad you and Reimi are okay."
Lymle looked up at Edge. "Edgie, did Lumi make me and Reirei all better?"
"Yes, she did."
"Yay! That kind of makes me happy, 'kay?"
Lumina smiled, and then wondered to herself where this interesting group of travelers was going.
"Um, excuse me, but where are you guys going next?" She asked with curiosity dancing in her voice.
"We have to go to another planet. You see-"
"Grampa turned into stone and went away.. So now we have to find the bad guy, 'kay?"
"Stone..? What happened?"
Faize cleared his throat, deciding it would be best if he explained.
"You see, back on Lymle's home planet, a disease called Bacculus started to spread. It basically turned people to stone. It was caused by a race of aliens that meant to take over the planet, but we're not really sure how or why. We are going to the planet the race originates from to discover the cause."
"I see.. I wish I could have helped somehow.."
"Don't feel bad about it Lumina, there was nothing that could be done," Reimi said in an attempt to comfort her.
"Well, I really hope you can figure out what happ-"
Suddenly, the ground rumbled, followed by several loud bangs, crashes, and explosions in the distance. Once the noise and motion subsided, Lumina quickly ran off, running out of the ship.
"Wait, where are you going?" Edge called after her.
She briefly stopped, and turned to face him. "I need to go make sure the village is okay!"
"That's just running into danger!"
"Oh well, danger usually follows me. I'm not wanted in this world very much, so I'm going anyway!"
"Then let me come with you. We all will. You helped us, so now the least we can do before we leave is help you. Right guys?"
Edge turned to face his crew, all of them nodding in reply.
"Okay people, let's go!"
There you go, chapter 1. I hope it wasn't too boring. :\ Lumina is.. well, if you can figure out her family, then you are an amazing person. She is based off two particular girls in the Symphonia world, but I'm trying not to make her too much like them. If you know who I mean here too, you're even more awesome.
Chapter 2 will probably be up within a few days. Thanks. :D
