Hey everyone, this is my first Tales of Xillia fanfic, and it's been a while since I've played Xillia, I'm busy playing Xillia 2 at the moment actually. I'm using a video playthrough of Xillia to help me with the pacing of the story. In this story, Jude will be a girl, and she will get with Alvin. I had been wanting to write one of Jude being a girl for a while now, but Mage of Hope beat me to it. But I'll still give it a go too. Jude's personality will be changed a little to suit the fact that he's now a she, but other than that, Jude will still act like Jude. Another new think I'm going to be doing is playing on the ringing noise Jude goes through whenever he's in thought. This story will get dark in some spots, but I'll keep the story in the T rating. When I get to the darker chapters I'll warn you about them at the beginning of the chapter. But other than that, sit back and enjoy the recreated story. When this story gets on past 25 chapters, I'll create a second season so it doesn't drag on for too long in one story. I know seeing a lot of chapters can throw a person off reading it.

Tales of Xillia – Hope and Destiny

Chapter 1

The Journey is Set

Exiting the classroom quickly, Jude found herself bumping into her classmates. Several of them fell onto the floor as she turned, gasping. Bowing in apology, she turned around, continuing to run. Her long, black hair, which ran to her hips, flowed behind her as she ran down the hallways. She panted as she made her way down to the classroom. Bursting into the room, she immediately bowed in apology.

"I'm so sorry I'm late Professor Haus!" Jude apologized, hearing a chuckle instead. Cautiously lifting her head, she blinked in shock to see Professor Haus straightening some papers in his hands, smiling at her.

"Ah, Jude. I've been called to the Research Centre, by the king himself! I need you to manage the patients today. Prinn will be there too" Haus stated, walking to her and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"A-Are you sure? I mean… I'm just a student…" Jude questioned, looking at him in disbelief. Haus merely laughed in response.

"You'll do fine Jude! If I had my way, you'd no longer be a student anymore, but a full-fledged doctor. Work well today with Prinn and I'll make you my personal assistant" Haus reassured, smiling as he walked out the room with a pile of paper work in his hands. Jude stood there, blinking in shock for a few seconds before she suddenly remembered the piece of paper in her hands.

"Professor! Before you leave, can you sign this?" Jude asked, running after him quickly and handing him the paper. Haus took the paper, looking at it for a second, then signed it, handing it back.

"I've got to go now. You know the way to where Prinn is, don't you?" Haus asked, making Jude in return. Smiling, she watched Professor Haus turn, walking out the medical school. Looking down at the paper in her hand, she slipped it into her pocket, taking off in a sprint down to the room where she knew Prinn was waiting for her. Entering, she saw Prinn look up from the desk.

"There you are! You're late Jude! Again!" Prinn complained, standing up, glaring at her. Jude shied away, stepping back.

"S-Sorry Prinn… I got caught up talking with Professor Haus, he wants us to do today's session on our own. He's been called to the Research Centre" Jude explained, seeing Prinn immediately soften.

"Oh, I see. I wonder if it's about the Professor's research." Prinn wondered aloud. Jude tilted her head, scratching her cheek in confusion.

"Research? You mean… medical research?" Jude asked, seeing Prinn turn to smile at her.

"Yeah. There's a rumour going around that the Professor's research is catching the eyes of the king, and he's going to be given the Howe Prize!" Prinn whispered happily. Jude gasped, smiling back at her.

"Wow, the Professor definitely deserves it! He's been working so hard. Let's make him proud, shall we Prinn?" Jude asked, motivating Prinn as well. She nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, good thing it's a slow day where we normally don't get many patients. Let me go see who's first in line" Prinn stated, stepping out the room as Jude prepared herself for the oncoming amount of patients.

"There, you're all patched up! Just be careful not to strain your mana lobe for a while, okay?" Jude instructed, helping the middle aged soldier up off the bed he'd been laying on. With a smile, she helped him stand.

"Thank you Dr Jude. You're a life saver" thanked the man, smiling at her as she helped him out the room. With a sigh of relief, Jude turned to look at Prinn.

"That was the final patient… Hmm… Professor Haus still isn't back? I wonder what's taking him so long…" Prinn stated, looking at Jude in worry. Jude's smile faded as she became worried as well.

"The research centre should be closed by now… I'll go look for him" Jude suggested, stepping to the back of the room, past the curtain. She changed out of her medical uniform into her black, knee length skirt, white blouse shirt and black and blue jacket. On her feet were black, shin length boots with the tinniest of heels. She used a bright, blue ribbon to tie back her hair into low ponytail. On her hands were black gloves. Stepping out, she flashed a smile at Prinn.

"I'll be back when I find the Professor" Jude reassured her, stepping out the room. She took off in a sprint down the hallway, heading to the exit. Exiting the Medical School, she began running down, past the shops and towards the Research Centre. When she reached the Research Centre, several guards were standing out the front.

"Excuse me? I'm looking for Professor Haus. He came here upon request, but he hasn't come back yet" Jude asked, seeing the guard look at the schedule in his hands.

"Sorry, the Centre is closed. All guests are reported as having checked out… And I don't even see a Haus here on the list. Sorry kid, he's not here" the guard apologized, waving Jude away. Jude sighed, seeing no point in arguing with a guard, and began to turn back. As she was walking though, a breeze of wind caught the form in her pocket, sending it flying over the edge.

"Oh no!" cried out Jude as she ran down the steps towards the water. When she reached the last step, she looked up to see strange blue symbols on the surface of the water, and further down the path of symbols, was a girl. She looked older than Jude, just hitting young adulthood. Her hair was blonde and ran down to her knees. There was one cowlick of hair that sprung out with a green tip. She was wearing a short top and skirt that barely covered what it needed to, and wore large gloves and boots. Between the step and the girl was the note of Jude's that had fallen in the breeze. Taking a deep gulp, Jude stepped onto the platform of blue lights, and walked cautiously to her note, picking it up. Turning to look behind her, she gasped to see the way back was beginning to disappear.

"Whoa!" Jude called out, jumping back a step, catching the girl's attention. Jude turned to look back at her, looking into her magenta coloured eyes and her stern expression.

"Um… hello?" Jude tried calling out, but only saw the girl put a finger to her lips.

"Just stay quiet, and I won't need to hurt you" warned the girl in a whisper. Jude gasped, jumping back a step in fear, but had to stop herself halfway because the path behind her was completely gone. She watched the girl swing her arm, calling forth a great big fireball, sending it straight to the gates under the Research Centre. Jude's jaw dropped in shock. She was breaking and entering?!

"H-Hang on! You could get in serious trouble doing that!" Jude called out, seeing the girl turn to look at her, shushing her again.

"Be quiet, or I'll have to hurt you. You should turn around and go home" the girl hissed, turning back and jumping through the hole she'd created, not even giving Jude a chance to say that her way back had disappeared. Her shoulders fell as she sighed, then gasped, taking off into a sprint for the hole as the symbols under her began to fade away.

Upon jumping through the hole, she looked around. The girl was gone again. She was a strange lady that was for sure. Picking up her feet, she began walking around the centre, fighting the occasional guard until she made it to one of the research rooms. Inside, she stepped through the room carefully. There were strange, large devices filled with some kind of green liquid. As she stepped closer to one, she nearly had a heart attack as hands smacked against the glass from the inside. Jude jumped back, gasping in shock as she saw a familiar face inside it.

"Professor!" Jude yelled, placing her own hands on the glass. The Professor looked like he was in so much agony. Jude could see his eyes open wide, his mouth screaming out in his agony.

"J-Jude! H-Help! Help… me!" she could hear from his muffled talking. Jude gasped, smacking against the glass a few times until she stood there, frozen in horror as his body began to glow. She could hear him screaming in the green liquid, and then he just disappeared. Jude's breath caught in her throat as she stood there, trying to comprehend what had just happened. She'd just witnessed the Professor's death, she'd seen him in his last moments, and she couldn't do a thing to save him.

"No… No! Professor!" Jude screamed out, smacking her fist against the glass. She knew it was futile, that he was gone, and as this sunk into her, she lowered her forehead against the glass, her shoulders trembling.

"What's all this noise about?!" called out a manic voice. Jude looked up, gasping to see a girl with long, silver hair, red eyes and a short, red dress, standing at the top of the stairs. Jude stepped back cautiously, seeing the girl jump down.

"A bug entered the lab? Looks like I need to take you down a notch pipsqueak!" she stated, laughing maniacally. Jude gasped, jumping back before the girl suddenly took out her weapon, pointing the spear tip towards Jude. Jude felt the world crash on her shoulders suddenly. Was this how she was going to go? Taking a deep breath, she readied herself to fight for her life. If she was going to go down, she was going to go down fighting! Seeing that Jude was ready to fight, the girl only laughed more.

"That's more like it! I like the fire in your eyes, even if it is weak!" the girl exclaimed, jumping madly on her feet as if she were running on the spot. Grabbing her weapon tighter, she began swaying back and forth as if she were high on some kind of hallucinogenic drug. Jude gulped, jumping forward at the strange girl, attempting to attack the girl, but with a single swipe of her weapon, Jude found herself on the ground. She'd landed on her shoulder on impact, making it difficult to get up. Looking up in fright, she saw the mad gleam in the girl's eyes. She began wriggling around happily, laughing maniacally. Maybe Jude could use this as her chance to escape?

As Jude turned to try and crawl away, she paused, noticing the strange woman from earlier was standing in the doorway. Was she a part of this too? Turning back to her attacker, Jude saw that the strange, insane girl didn't recognize her.

"What's this? Another pretty, uninvited face? Looks like I'll deal with you first!" called out the insane girl. She began chanting an arte, creating a ring of symbols around her. Jude turned, gasping to see the woman was doing the same thing. However the woman was a lot quicker than the girl in red. A raging fireball flew at the girl in red, sending her flying back. Jude managed to crawl back onto her feet, seeing the woman step further into the room.

"Wow… she summoned that spell so quickly…" Jude whispered in disbelief. But her joy was celebrated too soon, as the crazy girl stood up.

"I'm gonna rip that pretty face of yours to pieces!" she exclaimed, giggling as the strange woman unsheathed her sword.

"I'd prefer you didn't…" she responded, making Jude gasp as she stepped back, getting out of their way. It was over in a matter of seconds, and the crazy girl was laying on the ground, unconscious. Stepping out, she approached the strange woman cautiously.

"Um… Excuse me?" Jude asked, making her turn to look at her.

"What're you doing here? I told you to go home… Don't tell me you live here?" the woman asked, making Jude jump back a step.

"N-No! I just… had no actual way of getting back… I was looking for someone… And… Well… I couldn't save him…" Jude explained, making the woman's stern expression soften.

"You came to save a friend? I see… His mana lobe must've been exhausted and his body deteriorated… These machines suck out all the mana of their subjects, no doubt sending it to an exterior storage somewhere…" the woman explained, placing a hand to her chin in thought.

"Mana extraction? So, they're doing human experimentation?! I thought that was illegal!?" Jude exclaimed, blinking in shock. The woman nodded, turning to walk out the room. Jude gasped, running forward a few steps and grabbing a small part of her glove. The woman turned as Jude looked down shyly.

"Um… I was just wondering… Could I go with you? My other option kind flew out the window with the Professor dying…" Jude asked. The woman smirked, folding her arms across her chest.

"Clever girl. If you stick with the person who saved you, then you won't need any more saving. Very well, as long as you don't get in the way" she stated, making Jude tilt her head in confusion.

"Girl? You don't look that much older than me… I'm Jude Mathis" Jude stated, introducing herself as she held out a hand to the woman. The woman took her hand, giving it a firm shake.

"I'm Milla. Milla Maxwell" Milla stated, smiling at Jude. Jude's eyes widened upon recognizing the name.

"Hm? What's wrong Jude?" Milla asked, tilting her head in confusion this time.

"Maxwell… You have the same name as the Lord of Spirits…" Jude stated, making Milla's expression turn firm.

"That's correct. We are one and the same" she informed Jude, making Jude's eyes widen suddenly.

"What!? You're… You're the Lord of Spirits!? But… You're human!" Jude exclaimed, looking Milla up and down from top to bottom.

"I should hope so, that was the form I assigned for myself after all. It's impossible for me to do anything to the physical world in a spirit's body, so I designed a catalyst to use. As the Lord of Spirits, I decided on a human body as it contains all four elements, fire, water, earth and wind" Milla explained. Jude had managed to understand everything she'd said, but she still found it almost impossible to comprehend.

"So… that thing I saw just then… Was that… Efreet?" Jude asked, scratching her cheek. Milla nodded, but the effect was lost on Jude. She'd been shocked by so much already, she was kinda over being shocked. Not much else seemed shocking anymore now that Milla had confirmed she was the Lord of Spirits.

"We should leave… who knows when that insane girl will wake up…" Milla stated, leading Jude out the room behind her. When they entered the hallway, Jude sighed to herself. Turning to look back at the door, her shoulders fell.

"Professor Haus…" Jude murmured, holding her wrist in her hand. Milla saw this, walking closer to her.

"I take it you were close to this Professor of yours?" Milla asked, making Jude turn to look at her.

"Yeah, he was my teacher for most of my medical school training. He was going to make me his personal assistant soon once I finished the last of my schooling… But now… he's…" Jude explained, her voice trailing off as she looked at the floor sadly. Milla looked down at the ground as well before stepping forward, wrapping her arms around Jude suddenly. Jude froze, blinking at the sudden contact.

"W-What are you doing?" Jude asked, looking at Milla in confusion.

"I'm cuddling you. When humans are upset, you cuddle them to make them feel better" Milla explained, sounding completely oblivious to what she was actually saying.

"Um… where did you hear this?" Jude asked, tilting her head.

"I read it in a book. It was called 'A mother's love, A mother's touch'. Don't tell me this technique has no effect on you? Darn…" Milla explained, making Jude giggle to herself.

"Well, I do feel a bit better. Thanks" Jude thanked, smiling up at Milla. Milla smiled happily.

"So it does work! I'll have to keep that in mind when consoling other sad humans!" Milla stated happily, looking as if she were the one who received the hug. Jude smiled back, deciding to walk on ahead. After walking around for a bit, they finally discovered the external source Milla had been talking about.

"A spyrix weapon. I knew it…" Milla declared, looking at the giant device in the middle of the room. Jude looked around, gasping at the size of it. Stepping towards the machine, she began typing on the keyboard, bringing up a page on the display.

"The Lance of Kresnik? That's the name of the Sage from the Genesis Age!" Jude exclaimed, turning to look at Milla as she saw her swing her arms, chanting an arte. Four beings suddenly emerged from the spell, making Jude gasp.

"Efreet! Undine! Gnome! And Sylph!? The four Great Spirits? So… she really is Maxwell!?" Jude gasped, jumping back to where Milla was standing.

"Listen up! We must destroy that which threatens both man and spirits!" Milla declared, sending the four Great Spirits above the Lance of Kresnik, all linking their powers as they began summoning a powerful arte to destroy the Lance. Jude stepped back, watching in awe at what she was witnessing. Never in the last twenty years had someone been able to summon the four Great Spirits, and Jude was standing here, looking at all four of them in action. Her joy was short lived though, as a hand landed on a button by the Lance. Jude turned to see the crazy girl in the red dress standing there.

"What're you doing here!?" Jude exclaimed, seeing her look up to glare at the two of them.

"You are really starting to make me angry!" she growled, cackling suddenly as she pressed buttons madly on the device. The device suddenly activated, stopping the arte the four were creating, and began sucking up mana around the area. Jude felt a sudden wave of agony rush through her, making her clutch her side weakly as she cried out in pain. Milla did the same, grunting as she looked up at the girl in red.

"Fool! Don't you know this is going to drain you too!?" Milla exclaimed, looking at the girl with a stern glare. The girl just laughed maniacally.

"You're suffering! It's… It's worth it!" she yelled, collapsing back as Jude felt her legs begin to give out on her.

"It's… acting directly on our mana lobes! If we don't find a way to stop it…!" Jude stated, looking up to see Milla begin to walk towards the device.

"This wasn't part of the plan! But it's nothing I can't deal with!" she grunted, continuing to walk forward. Arriving at the device, she reached for the part that had activated when the machine had started.

"Do you know what you're doing!?" Jude called out from where she sat. She felt weak and light-headed. She could hear Milla trying to pull out the device, but it was much too strong. If they didn't succeed soon, both of them would turn into what Professor Haus had turned into, mana particles. Arte chains suddenly appeared around Jude, Milla and the Four as Jude looked up. A sudden ringing in her head made her clutch her head. It was ear piercing and she could feel a throbbing sensation through it.

"Jude, take Milla, and then run!" called out a mix of voices in Jude's head. She looked up, gasping when she realized it was the Four that had communicated with her.

"What? What're you going to do!?" she asked, suddenly being blinded by an explosion of light. She was thrown back onto the bridge, hanging onto the railing to prevent herself from falling onto the ground. Milla managed to dismantle the device finally with a victory cry, however Jude had no time to celebrate. The floor of the bridge began to give way, making Jude gasp as she fell backwards. She managed to cling onto the edge, hanging on for dear life. Milla had been thrown back as well, landing on the ledge opposite of her on the bridge. She attempted to do an arte summon, but gasped when it failed. The bridge under her collapsed and Jude gasped as she saw Milla falling to the water below. Jude closed her eyes, bracing herself before she let go. Falling down that distance into running water was terrifying, as she learnt with her scream as she fell. But she had to help Milla, the Four had entrusted her to her, and she had a feeling Milla was going to need her help now that she didn't have the Four.

Not all chapters will be this long, there will be chapters filled with funny skits, some filler, some character building, but this one was long just because it was the opening chapter. Please don't be thrown off by the length of this, and it will gradually grow more diverse and different from the original story. Some parts will probably get skipped or skimmed over, just because there's not much point dwelling on them if there's no difference regardless of Jude's gender. But other than that, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and I look forward to hearing reviews, etc.