Hi, and thanks for having the patience to read my boring intro! This is my first time writing a fanfic, but I think it turned out ok… Anyways, its mainly focused on Lloyd and Sheena's relationship during the original game, but in the way I thought I should have been done and in a whole different way from the original, but not drifting too far from the plot. Also, even though Tales of Symphonia is awesome, I may have re-did a scene or two and added some things of my own. Guess that's why they call it a fanfic.

Thanks and enjoy!

Prologue: Bright Lights

Lloyd could only watch in horror as the tragedy took place. His home town, where all his memories of playing with his friends, mainly Genis and Colette, was being burned to the ground. He could hear the screams, the cries of agony, and the fear the atmosphere of horror gave to everyone around him. And he could do nothing.

The Desians, a group of half-elves determined to cause suffering to all, had attacked the village of Iselia. They obviously overpowered the village's militia. Most of these simple farmers and shopkeepers died minutes after the attack started. Lloyd could see that not everyone was killed; a large group of townsfolk could be seen being gathered by the Desians into the center of town. Somehow, this didn't make Lloyd feel any better about the situation.

Lloyd was standing just outside of his school, where surprisingly no Desians lurked. They must have been driven back, or perhaps they didn't care to attack the structure. It was only through a miracle that Lloyd was not seen by anybody. Lloyd could see through the windows that some people took refuge under the school desks and bookshelves. Outside the door was a single guard, perhaps the last militia man, shaking like a leaf going through a tornado. The guard was probably not best suited to defend these people, but Lloyd felt admiration toward the man, this fearful and traumatized man who, despite the doom that was coming towards him, still stood his post.

"Damn!? Isn't there anything anyone can do!?" Lloyd thought with a sense of longing, pain, and the anger of a wild bear. He would have moved, done anything to save these people, but he was stuck in place, not out of fear, but chained to the ground. Lloyd could see nothing was holding his legs in place, but for some inexplicable reason, he couldn't move. And he was angry about it.

Two figures appeared within the villagers, but because of the smoke the houses in front of Lloyd gave off and the crowding together of the villagers, he could barely see them. Now he saw the leader of the Desian brigade that attacked this village. The man had pointed ears, like his friend Genis, so Lloyd concluded he was an elf. The man also had medium length blue hair and wore different attire than his comrades, probably signifying his importance among them. The most interesting thing about this man was his golden arm. "What could that be for?" Lloyd's eyes were taken off by this strange appendage when a huge monster appeared, held in place by a group of Desian foot soldiers.

"They wouldn't use that thing to kill everyone…would they?" Lloyd found himself thinking. He didn't think too long on it; the monster was released, to Lloyd's horror, but the two figures he saw step in front of the crowd defended the innocent people. This made Lloyd feel a tad bit better. Those two figures could hold their own and fought with great teamwork, one with magic and the other with…two swords. "Two swords, just like me. Who could that be?" Lloyd pondered intently over this until he saw a group of fifteen Desians dash out from behind him.

Lloyd could see them running towards him, bloodlust in their eyes. They must have circled the village to find any survivors or anybody trying to escape. Lloyd, with more motivation than ever before, tried moving to get into a better position to face these monsters, but couldn't move an inch. Realizing he could still fight without moving, if only for a little while, he reached for his swords. "What!?" he thought, seeing that instead of swords he had two empty scabbards. Not that two wooden swords would have helped against moving, well equipped Desians.

"Damn it; I can't die! Not here, not now!"

To Lloyd's shock, the Desians just ran past him and towards the school. "What the…can they not see me or something" It was as if they hadn't even seen him, as if Lloyd was a ghost. For some reason, this made Lloyd even madder than he was before, and he screamed in hatred at them to face him. They ignored him, either not hearing him or not wanting to listen, and slowed down as they approached the school building. The militia man was shaking now, but he held them back for a time, mainly because the Desian derived sadistic pleasure from the terror their presence gave him. The Desians laughed with joy at the poor man's attempts to keep them back, laughing as each lunge he took at them missed by a mile. They overpowered him easily, both in speed and strength; their Exspheres giving them a vile advantage against the man with a rake.

The next event happened quite quickly and took Lloyd by surprise. Lloyd's Exsphere shown brilliantly and seconds later an explosion of smoke appeared before him, and when dissipated, showed the face of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen (well, at least in the village, as he had never ventured beyond Iselia, save for when he traveled to his home in the nearby woods). She had purple hair put into a spiky pony tail and an outlandish purple robe. Her figure was flawless and her beauty put Lloyd into a bit of a shock. What probably set him off most was that she had appeared only inches away from Lloyd's face and caused him to blush in shock and admiration. Lloyd noticed she also wore an Exsphere, hers bravely in the open unlike the rag that covered his. Her eyes were gorgeous as well, shining like a full Tethe'alla moon, but Lloyd could see they were filled with rage and fury.

Lloyd saw her attack the Desians from the shadows with strangely colored…how should he put this…cards. Cards that exploded on impact. He saw her throw one of her cards into the air, exploding into another poof and revealing an interesting monster that looked like an ancient bird with a . She attacked with vicious efficiency and before a minute had passed, all the Desians lied dead at her feet. Both Lloyd and the militia man stood in wide-eyed admiration; she was like an angel of death, bringing the cold embrace of oblivion in a moment's glance. The militia man was dumb-struck, but Lloyd felt more. Thankfulness, admiration, a touch of fear, and love…"Wait!? What am I thinking!?" Lloyd thought, blushing a dark shade of red and almost forgetting his village was under attack.

As the lady was about to speak to the militia man, a bright light exploded from the town square. Lloyd saw everyone, including this purple haired savior, look into the light. She was the last thing Lloyd saw as he suddenly passed out.

________________________________________________________________________

"Lloyd Irving, wake up!"

"Lloyd!"

A lightning fast chalkboard eraser made contact with Lloyd's head, causing him to wake up and almost fall over. The classroom exploded in laughter as Lloyd muttered "Professor Raine…eh, is class over." Raine rolled her eyes and continued with her lesson.

"I was sleeping the entire time!? But it felt so real…as if that event really happened. How did I even fall asleep standing in the back of the class holding these buckets of water?" Lloyd couldn't believe he dreamed that. He looked out the class window; the village was bustling as the townspeople went from place to place. "Its like they never knew what happened…like it never happened."

Lloyd knew he should feel glad. The people were safe. The Desians never attacked Iselia, violating the non-aggression treaty. But instead, Lloyd felt an incredible sense of sadness when he knew he shouldn't. The woman in his dreams…she did not exist. She had been a figment of his imagination. In return for the safety of the people, he would never see anybody like her again…

"NO! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT!" Lloyd thought loudly to himself, startling the whole class. Colette, the Chosen one and one of his best friends, had stood up to answer a question Raine had presented to her. Genis, the obvious prodigy and best student in class as well as another one of Lloyd's friends, looked at his friend in shock and pity as his sister Raine cast a glaring, soul piercing look onto Lloyd.

"So Lloyd, you have another explanation as to why mana depletion is occurring throughout the world?" Raine never liked her knowledge being threatened by others, especially uneducated students. Especially Lloyd.

"Ummm…" Lloyd mumbled when in a lucky burst of heat his Exsphere started to glow beneath the rags on his hand. "Wow, what incredible luck! Oh wait, what's going on?" Everyone looked in awe as it shined brightly for a few minutes before dimming down.

"Lloyd, what did..." Genis began to ask as suddenly another sentence interrupting light began to shine outside the school. The light of the Oracle.

"What's with all the strange things happening today; first that dream, and now my Exsphere shines on the day of the Oracle. Something weird is going on." Lloyd thought later when the classroom was unattended. Raine had gone off to see what was going on, and everyone was ordered to stay in the classroom, even Colette, who had to wait for the priests. "Should I tell Genis about my dream…nah, he'll just laugh at me and scold me for sleeping in his sister's class. Wait a minute!" Lloyd had a revelation!

In his dream, his Exsphere glowed brightly seconds before the mysterious woman appeared before him. For some reason, the orb on top of his hand had been like a signal that shinned when she appeared. Maybe she was nearby, outside of the classroom at this very second! Waiting for Lloyd to reveal himself to her.

"No Lloyd, get a hold of yourself. There's no way she's out there, heck, she probably doesn't exist. It was all a figment of your imagination." But even as he said this, he didn't believe himself. Forces and thoughts beyond his control urged him to go outside and look for the mysterious woman. Lloyd was being illogical but he never felt surer of himself. Making sure that he had his swords this time, he started to walk out of the classroom.

"Lloyd, don't tell me you're going outside!" Genis lectured to his friend. "Umm, I'm really curious to see what happens during the Oracle. I've always wondered what really goes on, you know?" "Good excuse Lloyd" he thought to himself. Genis still didn't want him to go. He didn't blame him. Lloyd was pretty reckless and what he went to set out to do was anything but smart. But Lloyd insisted. "Sigh…you wanna come along too? We're best friends after all." Lloyd exclaimed, trying hard to hold back his annoyance. Its not like Lloyd didn't like Genis; far from it. They were as closer in friendship than even most brothers. But Lloyd thought that he should see the woman alone, for some reason. Jealousy?

"Nah."

Genis loosened up after that, conveniently ceasing to argue with Lloyd. "Okay Lloyd, if only to keep you out of trouble. Hey, lets bring Colette along too!" Lloyd sighed. "Great, more people. I'm never gonna find this lady. Guess I should have seen this coming though" Colette overheard them, and was, reluctantly, invited by Lloyd. "Okay! Where to?" Lloyd hadn't really thought about that, but seeing that the Oracle light flashed right after his Exsphere shinned, he thought it could not be a coincidence. "Wow! I never usually think this hard about anything. Weird…"

"We're going to the temple; where else?"

A brilliant flash rose in the middle of this seemingly innocent piece of land, presenting a purple-clad warrior in its place. Miles away from any village or town, nobody noticed the arrival of the assassin. "Good. The less eyes upon me, the better." The assassin looked around. This place looked just like Tethe'alla, but then again, the assassin was in the plains. The silent killer knew how to survive in most places, and this was no exception. Despite coming to a new world with no visit prior, the assassin knew much about Sylvarant due to consistant research and debriefing on the important mission the killer had been sent to do. The assassin had been sent to the world of Sylvarant the day before the coming of the Oracle in order to stop what would likely be the appocalypse to her people.

The assassin's furry companion, a summon spirit, also looked longingly at this new place, wonder in its eyes. "So where do we go to first?" it squeaked excitedly. It was as if he didn't know this was a mission to specifically kill someone. To take the life of one in order to save the assassin's world of millions.

The assassin, or a ninja as they were called, had come into Sylvarant to kill the Chosen of Regeneration, the one that would disturb the ninja's world. The ninja was reluctant; "Killing has never been one of my favorite things to do…sigh, why did they send me?". The ninja knew though; it was to be redeemed for an event long past. An event that still efected the ninja after many years have passed.

The summon spirit looked at the ninja worriedly and asked "Are you okay Sheena?".

"Yeah, of course. Lets get started."

Man, that was pretty fun to write! Please review so I know I have some type of audience out there.

Stay tuned; more chapters to come; at least one every 3-5 days, maybe sooner if I have nothing else to do.