I started writing a self insert like 3 or so years ago? It was gross though and I updated like twice a year because I was super lazy and wasn't exactly sure what I was doing, but now I do sorta know what I'm doing with the story! I know there's legit dozens upon dozens of Symphonia inserts, but one more can't hurt, right? Right. ouo Hopefully this'll be more enjoyable than the first time I tried writing it because I was certainly more relaxed writing it this time.

It's too hot.

…Way too hot.

I'm sweaty all over. My head feels wet…my clothes, too. It's like I jumped into a pool with all my clothes on. It didn't do much to cool me down.

It's so hot that I feel light headed. It's the type of heat that actually makes your body hurt and your lungs tense and burn because the air is too humid for them. You breathe slower and deeper because it feels better that way, rather than having quick bursts of warm air in your lungs.

I think that's what I'm doing. Breathing slow enough that maybe my lungs aren't getting enough air. Everything feels tense and painful because it's like I'm not breathing-

I'm not breathing.

I can't breathe.

Oh god, I'm not breathing.

The instant 'oh god, oh no, I don't want to die,' panic hits me like a brick wall and I'm trying to pull myself to sit up straight and cough as hard as I can before I realize I'm already coughing up water. Someone keeps me from sitting completely up right, but they do help me stay up while I lean to the side and try coughing up more of what tastes like salt water.

Jesus Christ, did I almost drown?

My body's in too much shock to let my brain think past that. My stomach heaves once or twice while I cough, and all I can do is hope I don't start throwing up anything other than water. I don't know if there's any more water in my lungs, but I keep coughing as hard as I can because I'm terrified and I don't want to drown, I don't want to not be able to breathe, and I don't want to die.

"You're alright," a man with a familiar voice tells me. "You can breathe now. Take a slow, deep breath."

Easier said than done. I'm still panicking. The best I can manage is taking short, quick breaths, boarding on hyperventilating. My arms are shaking so much I can't keep my upper body up anymore and I lay down on my stomach, keeping my face out of the sand I happen to be on.

How did I get to the beach?

"Jeez- is she going to be okay?" A teenage boy asks from close by.

"She's breathing now, I'm sure she'll be fine," a woman to my right says. "There should be a towel in my bag, go get it for her."

"Ah, right!" Sand shifts and the boy's footsteps stomp a ways away, probably to where the woman's bag is.

"We need to get her sitting up now," the man speaks to the woman.

A slender hand touches my shoulder, softly pushing me back to get my face out of the sand. They help me sit right and once I am I pull my knees up, loosely wrapping my arms around them and resting my forehead on my knees. I'm shaking hard; my stomach feels painfully empty; my throat hurts; my head feels ready to explode and-

I must have been in the ocean because I am soaking wet and there is a chunk of seaweed on my lap.

Well, isn't this an interesting Monday.

As far as I remember I wasn't swimming before I passed out. In fact, I wasn't anywhere near a beach - the closest beach to my house is about an hour away. Even though randomly passing out is kind of a common thing for me, no one would take me to the beach, especially not when I was the only one home at the time. My dad and brother were at an appointment, and my mother and other brother were at work and university. I was supposed to work today, but it ended up being so quiet that they didn't need me in the store which meant I got the day to do what I please.

I was going to ignore some homework by playing a game I'd recently started. I was just about to put the game disk into the Wii, but there was already a game in it, so I ejected that game disk and then…I can't exactly remember. I think there was a bang. There was some loud noise (it totally wasn't me screaming), a freakishly bright light, and a lot of pain. That's something I definitely remember. There was far too much pain and everything still hurts a bit; that might just be the shock of almost drowning still talking.

I sigh deeply, letting my shoulders slump as I close my eyes. Is there somewhere I could sleep before calling my parents to come get me? I'm exhausted and I'd really love to sleep some.

"Are you alright now?" The woman asks me. She's close, sitting right beside me and patting my back very softly. I swear I know her voice, too. The teacher tone she has is hitting my elementary memories hard.

"Mm-hmm," I hum quietly, nodding my head. If I start talking I'm going to start coughing again. I'll just keep quiet for now.

"Here's the towel, Professor," the teenager is back, sounding less worried than before. I guess the woman here is some college Professor? Maybe the teenager isn't really a teenager then…

The Professor puts the towel around my shoulders as she speaks to the boy. "Thank you, Lloyd."

I open my eyes and stare at my lap intently as the teenager talks.

"No problem, Professor Raine." I'm holding my breath now, hoping this isn't actually real. "Oh, Kratos, I hope you don't mind I got a towel from your bag too, for Genis."

I hear a small, quiet, "Hmph," to my left and can imagine the man shaking his head.

"He said to give it to her," the boy continues, referring to yours truly. "But he needed one too, the dork."

This is not happening, I'm not where I think I am; I'm just dreaming a very, very vivid dream.

"Oh, thank you for making him take it," the Professor thanks. "Honestly, I don't understand why he tries to make himself sick."

The boy lets out a quiet chuckle before asking, "So…are you okay now?"

After a minute of silence, it dawns on me that he's actually speaking to me.

Oh…shit.

As I slowly and reluctantly raise my head, my answer of, 'Yes, I'm fine just get me the fuck out of Tales of Symphonia', promptly dies in my throat when I see that Lloyd, Kratos and Raine are all staring at me.

They're actually right here, right beside me. All decked out in their outfits of too much red; too many belts; and bright orange teacher robes. Both Kratos' and Lloyd's hair are still defying gravity and Raine's hair is that shade of silver that just shouldn't be natural for someone as young as her. But of course, it is.

They're right front of me and alive and- and what is going on?

In my dazed stupor, wondering where I am, what's happened to me, and why the hell Tales of Symphonia characters are staring at me, what's the first tongue-tied thing I say to Lloyd-frickin'-Irving?

"What the hell just happened?"

I am the best at first impressions, someone give me my trophy.

There's a moment's pause before someone speaks and in that pause I'm very tempted to run right back into the water and actually drown myself. I think the only thing keeping me sitting is the fact that I'm somehow now in a video game and just said a very stupid thing to Lloyd-frickin'-Irving.

"You should go check on Colette," Kratos' one visible eyebrow is slightly raised at my choice of words as he speaks to Lloyd. "Make sure she's not feeling as ill as she was earlier."

Lloyd pauses for a second, still taken aback from my sudden, somewhat vulgar response. "Shouldn't we bring her to the camp? It's warmer over there with the fire and everything; doesn't she need to get dry too?"

"Kratos and I will help her to the camp when she's ready to walk," Raine tells Lloyd, giving me a look that I read as 'Is that alright with you?'. I nod timidly, holding on to the edges of the towel Lloyd got me, nervous to be alone with Raine and Kratos.

Raine continues, "Go make sure Colette is feeling well and that Genis is getting dry."

Lloyd, I swear to God, if you leave me alone with these two I'm not going to like you as much as I like you when you're…not a real person.

"…Okay," he says hesitantly, giving me a small shrug before trotting back to their camp a few meters to the left.

It's official; virtual Lloyd Irving is better than real life Lloyd Irving.

No- I mean- virtual Lloyd Irving is better than dream Lloyd Irving. Because this is a dream and will stay a dream until I wake up, and then it'll just be a really cool story to tell friends.

Except it's not really cool, because I don't want to be in a VIDEO GAME.

"Can you remember anything that happened to you?" Raine asks, her brows furrowed in some slight frustration. I'm not sure if it's due to worry about me, or Colette who's not feeling good, or to the fact that I might've said 'hell' a minute or two ago, but it's probably somewhat my fault. "Why were you in the water with all your things?"

My things? Last I checked the only thing I had on me was my iPod, and I'm pretty sure that wouldn't really last in the water.

"What things?" I wonder, taking a glance around to see if I can find anything Earth-like. Unfortunately - possibly fortunately as well seeing as I don't exactly want to explain Earth-like things - the only thing around us is sand, sand, sand and more sand. And water. And sand.

"Your bags and weaponry," Kratos clarifies. "It's fortunate that most your items stayed in your bags even though they'll most likely be water damaged."

Bags? Items? Weaponry? I had bags with items in them? I had a weapon? You can't even legally carry guns around where I live, so what is he talking about? Plus, I'd be far too terrified to actually own any weapon of any kind, let alone carry it around with me!

Well shit, what am I supposed to say? I can't just tell them, 'oh, I'm from another world, you're all actually part of this really cool story — can I have your autographs?'

'Just tell them you don't remember things at the moment.'

I freeze solid when another person, whose voice I know doesn't belong to any character in Symphonia, starts talking. Who the hell is that and why is no one else looking for this disembodied voice?

'Because only you can hear me. Now do what I tell you,' the person, a young man by the sound of their voice, orders me. 'Shake your head a little, put your hand to your forehead and take a deep breath.'

'Who-?'

'Do it now!'

I flinch when he yells at me, but quickly do as the random man told me to do. It doesn't take a lot of effort for me to pull it off and look convincing as I honestly am exhausted and really, really terrified. My hands are shaking when I thump my forehead into my palms, and my breath quivers too.

'Tell them you're not sure what happened, that everything is a blur right now.'

"I'm not… I'm not really sure what happened," I repeat back to Raine, letting out another heavy sigh. "Everything's kind of messed up."

Kratos' persistent gaze is almost burning at my neck, and Raine's frown (of worry? Of skepticism?) doesn't ease my nervousness of this situation I've been suddenly forced into.

"Why don't we get you dry and comfortable for now then," Raine suggests after exchanging a glance or two with Kratos. I can actually feel their uncertainty towards who the hell I am, but I guess that caring, motherly part of Raine, and the fatherly part of Kratos (however buried it might be at the moment), is slightly winning over the both of them.

"Okay… Sorry for being a bother. And thank you," I say, despite my inner annoyance at the situation as I stare at my shoes which I don't ever remember owning. Everything I'm wearing isn't mine as far as I remember actually. I don't own brown traveler's boots, or this brown jacket, or this blue shirt or these dark blue, baggy pants. I guess these are adventurer's clothes? Complimentary you've-been-tossed-into-a-game clothing?

'It's all made of material commonly found in Sylvarant, unlike polyester.'

Of course. The voice knows all.

"It's not a problem, dear," Raine assures me quickly (Kratos made one of those annoyed grunts of his again). "There isn't anything to apologize for."

"…Okay." There's already one girl apologizing non-stop, Raine obviously doesn't need another one around. I'll quit with the guilt words while I'm ahead. "But, still, thank you both very much for helping me."

"If you wish to thank anyone, you might want to thank the young boy over there," Kratos nods over to the camp where a damp Genis, wrapped in a thin towel sits by the camp fire. "He was the one who pulled you out of the water."

Doki, doki, Genis you've stolen my heart you little munchkin.

No, not really, but he's getting a lot of "thank you"s and hugs when I can think and speak coherently around these people who aren't suppose to be real.

"Before we get you moving too much, are you injured anywhere?" Raine asks me.

"The back of my head hurts. It's kind of pounding…a lot." I admit. I must have hit it when I passed out at home; now I have an ever growing headache.

The Professor takes a look at the spot on my head as I nervously fiddle with my hands. "That's quite a large bruise. I'm not surprised if that's what knocked you unconscious while you were in the water."

"Probably…" I pretend to agree.

I hold my breath again when Raine raises her staff and calls out, "First Aid." A soft blue glow shimmers around the head of staff for a moment before it fades, taking away most of the pain and leaving me feeling all fuzzy. The spell has this warm, prickling feeling to it, oddly enough. Like running hot water over your hand after you've been out in the snow for a while. Just a weird…fuzzy feeling.

Magic is so weird.

"Better?" Raine asks as she puts her staff down.

I nod. While the majority of the pain is gone, my head is still thumping, and my ears are now ringing, but that's probably just because of the magic. I'm sure my headache will disappear in a few minutes.

"Thank you, m-…ma'am." Wow, that sounded so very awkward and forced.

Raine shakes her head. "My name is Raine. And so you know, Genis, the boy who helped you is my younger brother."

"Oh. Well that's handy to know." I turn to the mercenary with us, squinting my eyes at the bright setting sun. My head is still thumping; is magic supposed to lessen, or worsen headaches? "And you're Kratos, right?"

He nods, so obviously impressed with my scholar like reasoning skills.

"So, that other kid," I go on, attempting to ignore my throbbing headache. "The boy who brought the towel…?"

"Lloyd." Raine tells me. "He's one of my students, as are Genis and Colette."

I frown. "Colette?"

"She is the Chosen One," Kratos clarifies . "She's feeling rather ill tonight, though, so let her rest."

"Th-the Chosen?" I let my jaw drop and my eyes grow wide in false surprise. More sunlight gets into my eyes and that causes my headache to worsen. "You guys- you're the Chosen's group?"

Pretending I'm from Sylvarant should be okay. It'd be easier to act like that's the truth rather than to tell them the actual truth. I'm not letting them know I'm from another world that isn't Tethe'alla. Even Kratos would think I'm crazy, which is something I'm starting to believe as well; being in a video game and hearing voices is not a good sign of mental stability.

Raine nods. "We are. The Chosen received the oracle and she's already released one seal."

That's why Colette is sick tonight! She's going through that shitty trial where she loses her senses. If they just finished the first seal that means she can't taste anymore, right? I always forget if she looses the ability to taste or sleep first. Gosh, what an upsetting time to join, right when Colette starts going through all this pain…

I sigh, hoping I sound more relieved than I feel. "That's- that's wonderful! I'd heard that the oracle had come, but I didn't see it for myself so I wasn't sure. It came about a week or two ago, right?" If we're just outside the first seal, I'm guessing that it takes longer than a few minutes to get from Iselia to Triet in real life rather than in the game.

Getting to his feet and dusting off his pants with a quick swipe of his hand, Kratos informs me, "The Chosen received the oracle a little over two weeks ago. Now, it would be prudent if we made our way to camp; unless you want to catch a cold."

Nope, don't want that. My headaches can get unbearable sometimes when I'm sick, and with this headache right now I wouldn't want it getting any worse. I can start hallucinating when I get sick, which does me no good when I can't think past "oh why god, why".

It actually takes me a few tries to stand up, only succeeding with Kratos' help as he pulls me up with one hand. I stumble ever so gracefully a few steps before Raine catches me, holding on to my shoulders while I try to stop everything from spinning. I wonder how I'll be able to walk to Triet. I'm worried that I'll pass out either from heat stroke or from this headache.

For a moment I think I can stand; I think I can walk; I think I can actually do something that doesn't require much effort. Then the throbbing pain in my head becomes too much and my shaking legs give out. My head is pounding so hard I can't see straight; I'm even hyperventilating again.

Letting the towel that was around my shoulders drop, I fall to the soft sandy ground. While everything goes dark for the second time today, all I can think of is how I really should have done my homework first today.