Hello again!

Here I am, and I'm proud to present my second contribution to the fanfiction universe! (Ok, technically my third, but hey, who cares about a measly songfic?) Anyhoo, this one's a self-insert. I'll try to avoid a Mary Sue. I'm a guy, for one thing.

A note to flamers: No likie, no readie. If you hate it so much, why did you bother reading it?

Here's the really long summary that wouldn't fit in those annoying two lines of space they give you.

I'm playing ToS, when lightning strikes my satellite dish and sends me spiraling into our favorite videogame, just as Lloyd names the tree at the end. This is my adventure in Symphonia, helping them keep the new world stable in the face of a new threat, and just maybe have a little fun along the way.

PAIRINGS: Colloyd, Gesea, Sheena x OC, OC x OC, and little bits of reflective Kranna here and there.

NOTE TO READERS: if you're looking for Ch. 9 of Two Worlds, One Soul, check my bio. For some reason it hasn't shown up on the Internet, but the good version can be accessed through there.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, you silly lawyers. Why do you waste your time with me?

And so, in the words of the great Mario:

"Here we go!"

Heart, Soul and Sword

Chapter One – AAAAH! I'M FALLING!

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"Finally! It is complete!" I sighed and stepped back, viewing my newest creation. It had taken every minute of my free time for a week, and I was quite proud of myself. (My name, by the way, is Alex Brooks, 18-year-old manga artist. Remember that now.)

"It" was a drawing, completely colored in Photoshop (harder than it sounds) of a video game character. Not any videogame character, might I add. It was what I would look like if I were in Tales of Symphonia. I tacked it up on a wall so covered with similar sketches you couldn't see the paint. My favorites are a set of the ToS characters that I color-altered. There's "Greenis" Sage, Kratos "Orangeon", "Redgal" Bryant, Raine "Cyan", Colette "Brownel", you get the point. Right next to the new picture I tacked a set of stats. Here they are.

Name: Rythiel Kerukan

Age: 18

Height: 6'

Hair Color: Green-silver

Eye Color: Steel

Weapon of Choice: Uchuubato (Japanese for "Universal Sword". My own invention)

Elemental Affinity: Light

Description: He is clad in a forest green tunic with silver designs. The sleeves, which go down slightly past his elbows, are white with green trim. His pants are white with green around the bottoms, held up by a gold sash. On his feet are white and silver boots. His long greenish-silver hair is tied back in a ponytail, and intense steely eyes stare out from beneath his bangs. On both his wrists are mirrored silver bands, and there are shining steel rings on the first, middle, and ring fingers on each hand. On the back of his right hand is an emerald green Exsphere, set in a Key Crest shaped like a four-pointed star. From his hip dangles his Uchuubato, a weapon of his own design. To complete the outfit, he is wearing an emerald green cape with a silver lining.

After admiring my work, I headed downstairs. Seeing as it's raining outside, I flip on the tube, but there's nothing on but Naruto reruns.

"Oh for God's sake, why do they only put out a new one once a week?" I grumbled as I fished out Tales of Symphonia from my closet. I put in the disc and ascended Vinheim to the final boss. The cool battle music started to play (and I'm listening to the MIDI of it now) and I engage Mithos in single combat. (Well, sort of.)

As I fought, the sky grew darker and darker. I, of course, was too absorbed in the fight to even notice until the first clap of thunder shattered my little bubble.

"Please please please don't hit my house," I begged, "Let me save first…" Another ominous crack of thunder, this time louder, much closer.

"Please?" I said meekly.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

"Figures." I said, shrugging. Just as Lloyd cried out "This tree's name is…" lightning struck my satellite dish, wend down through the cable, and into the TV, which promptly started smoking. From there it went into my Gamecube, through the controller cable, and into me.

The heat was so intense I thought my hands were going to fuse to the controller. Heh, then mom couldn't tell me to stop playing video games. Typical me to think about videogames when being struck by lightning. Then everything went black.

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At that moment, I felt the strangest sensation. It was as if giant hands were squishing me together and pulling me apart at the same time. I tried to open my eyes but couldn't. It took a moment for me to realize that my eyes were open, but there was no world around to see. I screamed, but no sound came out.

All of a sudden, I was blinded by light. A glowing green-gold disc of light had erupted beneath my feet, sending tendrils of light that shot up, playing over my entire body. I felt warm and hot at the same time. Slowly, I realized that I was sinking into the disc. Or maybe the disc was moving up my body, I don't know. I didn't really have a reference point. At any rate, when the disc moved over my head, it slowly vanished. I looked down at myself and gasped. I was transformed. (I'm not going to say it twice, so look up if you want my description.)

A few lingering sparks from the disc of light gathered beneath my feet into a glowing green-blue ball. I stared at it, confused. Was it just me, or was it getting bigger? It took me a second to realize that it was a planet, and I was falling towards it.

I gasped again, but I still made no sound. This time I knew why. I was in space, falling towards the Earth. Okaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy…weird doesn't even begin to describe this. I suppose being struck by lightning probably has some influence, but this is nuts. There's only one logical explanation. I'm dreaming. Just before I hit the ground, I'll wake up.

Then I looked at the planet again. Something was wrong. It wasn't Earth. It was close, but not the same. I couldn't see any normal continents. They were different, yet vaguely familiar. Yet I couldn't shake the feeling that I had seen them somewhere before…

As I was pondering the familiarity of the terrain, I entered the atmosphere. I got myself spread-eagle like a skydiver to slow myself. As the wind screamed by me, I thought to myself, Man this is weird. I should be bursting into flames by now, with the friction of the air and all, but nothing's happening. Not that I'm complaining or anything, that'd be a bad way to go…speaking of going, that ground's coming up awfully fast…

I could now make out the ground beneath me. I was headed straight for a large crater with a giant tree sprouting from it. On the ground before the tree were three people, but I was too high up to see anything but a white, a red, and a green dot. I tried to yell down to them, but the wind ripped the words away from me. So I just screamed, howling at the top of my lungs as I plummeted.

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"This tree's name is…Huh?" said Lloyd, looking up.

Mana and Colette looked confused. "Huh? That's what your naming the new Kharlan Tree?" asked Mana.

"No, look! Up in the sky!" cried Lloyd, pointing.

"Is it a bird? asked Mana.

"Is it a Rheaird?" asked Colette.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

yelled the falling dot.

"Holy Cruxis, it's a person!" yelled Lloyd.

"Come on, Lloyd, we'll catch him!" said Colette, flaring her purple-blue wings.

"No, allow me." Said Mana. She raised her staff and a beam shot out, enveloping the falling figure and slowing their descent until he gently touched down.

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Just as I resigned myself to a quick death by terra firma, a gold beam of light shot up form the green figure and surrounded me with an aura. My descent instantly slowed.

Holy crap, what's going on here? Is this some sort of tractor beam, or is it…magic? This is a dream…it's got to be a dream!

I touched down on the rocky ground, my cloak swirling around me. As the light faded, I saw who had saved me. What I saw sent me spiraling into unconscious again. Before me stood Lloyd Irving-Aurion, Colette Brunel, and Mana, who was just lowering her staff from what I presumed was the spell that saved my life.

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As I was sprawled on the ground, a series of visions flashed through my head.

I saw myself… well, the new me, growing up in a secret little town that appeared to be like Sylvarant's version of Mizuho. I saw my life, my growth, my training. I saw that I became an exotic weaponsmith, and the forging of my own weapon, the Uchuubato. Then I saw the destruction of my town by Cruxis angels for reasons unknown, and the years of wandering since. I say my encounter with Aska, and how he had given me my Exsphere. Then a splash of cold on my face brought me back to reality.

Lloyd stood over me, holding a bucket of water he had gotten from god knew where.

"Umm…are you OK, Mister?" asked Colette nervously.

I jumped to my feet and staggered back a couple steps

"My God…what's going on? How is this even possible? This has to be a dream. It HAS to be!" Good going, genius. Now they're all staring at you. Not surprising, seeing as you fell from the sky and then started ranting like a crazy man.

"Umm…Hi?" said Colette nervously.

I looked at the three of them, surprised, amazed, and confused as hell all at the same time.

"Hey" I said. Idiot! Think! Don't just stand there, say something!

"Okay…What the heck is up with that? Did you fall off your Rheaird or something?" asked Lloyd.

"No, idiot, I'm an angel. I was flying along and my wings broke." The sarcasm made a slight whooshing sound as it flew right over Lloyd's head.

"You're an angel? How did you get a Cruxis Crystal?" asked Lloyd.

"Look, Lloyd, I was joking. I'm not an angel." Realizing my mistake, I slapped a hand over my mouth.

"Hey! How do you know my name?" asked Lloyd, glaring at me suspiciously.

Great, me and my big mouth… Thinking quickly, I said the first thing that popped into my head. "You been to Luin recently? They have a big statue of you there with your name on it. Basically everyone knows your name now."

"Cool, a statue!" said Lloyd.

"So Mr…um…Mister, what is your name?" asked Colette.

I figured I shouldn't give them my real name, so I decided to go with the name of the one whose appearance I had taken on.

"Kerukan" I said, "Rythiel Kerukan." I shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Chosen One."

"I'm really an ex-Chosen now that Lloyd's saved the worlds." She said, giggling as Lloyd blushed.

Just then, the rest of the group entered the area.

"Hey guys, look who we found!" called Lloyd, indicating myself.

"And just who the hell are you?" asked Kratos.

It took every last drop of willpower I had to resist yelling out 'Hey, that's Yuan's line!', but that would have blown my cover.

"I'm Rythiel Kerukan." I said.

"He fell out of the sky, but Mana caught him before he could go splat!" said Colette.

"Fell out of the sky?" said Sheena, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yeah, he hasn't really gotten around to explaining himself yet." Said Lloyd. They all looked at me expectantly.

"Well…" I said, "To tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth…"

"Yes?" asked Genis.

"I have no freakin' idea." The whole company sweatdropped.

"What do you mean, you have no idea?" asked Raine.

"Exactly what I said. I lost consciousness, and then I was falling toward the planet!"

"It is not possible for a human to survive re-entry into the atmosphere. The friction would set you on fire." Said Presea matter-of-factly.

"Yes, I'm aware of that. But Lloyd and the Chosen here saw me fall, and Mana caught me, and obviously I'm still standing here, so…" I paused for a second, then continued, "Even though I don't have an explanation, it happened anyways. I'm sorry I can't give you any reason."

"You said you lost consciousness. How did that happen?" asked Regal.

"I was struck by lightning."

"Where was that?" asked Colette.

Following the lead the visions had given me, I replied, "I was on the road, traveling."

"Where were you going?" asked Lloyd.

"I really have no destination, I just like to travel. I'm kinda like that Nova guy, traveling around and seeing the world, and exploring for the fun of it." I lied. OK, it wasn't really a lie, seeing as my ToS self had been doing it for years.

"What do you do, when you're not exploring?" asked Sheena.

Once again referring back to the visions, I said, "I'm a weapons designer. I dream up all sorts of exotic weapons, then find someone to build them."

Lloyd and Kratos were intrigued. "So, that…thing…you have there," Lloyd said, indicating my Uchuubato, "Did you invent that?"

"That I did." I replied.

"If you don't mind me asking, Mr. Kerukan…" Colette said.

"Call me Rythiel." I said, grinning. I caught a little glimpse of a death glare from Lloyd, but it vanished quickly.

"Rythiel. What exactly is that?"

"I call it an Uchuubato." I said.

"A what?" asked Genis, puzzled.

"An Uchuubato," I repeated.

"Huh? 'Sword of the Universe'? You mean, it has powers like the Eternal Sword?" asked Sheena.

"No, far from it. The way I translate it, it means 'Universal Sword'. It's powers are nothing like those of the Eternal Sword, I assure you."

"You call it a sword, but it appears to be a whip." commented Kratos.

"It appears that a demonstration is in order. Can I get a target?" I asked, unclipping the weapon and letting the chain drop to the ground.

"Will an apple work?" asked Genis, fishing one out of his pack.

"Sure. Toss it up in the air."

He did so. Relying on the memories of my new self, I snapped up my whip and sent it slicing toward the arcing fruit. The razor-edged metal links passed through the apple with such speed it was hard for the eyes to follow. The fruit remained in one piece, and continued uninterrupted in its flight.

"Hey! You missed!" said Lloyd.

"We'll see." I said, allowing a smirk onto my face.

Lloyd caught the fruit, and it split into two halves in his hand.

"Now for the universal part. Lloyd, toss those two pieces, please." I said.

He did so, and I depressed a hidden panel on the hilt. With a metallic-sounding 'clank', the whip solidified into a solid eight-foot rapier. This retracted into the hilt, then rocketed out again, spearing both apple pieces and coming to a halt an inch from a startled Kratos' nose. The blade shot back into the hilt, and I calmly took a bite of the apple.

"Tasty!" I said, chuckling a little as I saw Lloyd's shocked expression. Okay…now how in hell did I do that? Past memories aside, I've never held a sword in my life, let alone one that can do things like that…it must be my Exsphere. God, these things are handy. I wonder what else it can do.

Kratos interrupted my reverie. "That is a most interesting weapon. You said it was your own design?" I nodded. "And did you make it as well?"

"Not entirely. I had the assistance of a master forger, long since dead."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

There was a moment's pause. No one had anything to say.

"Mr. Rythiel? How would you like to come on a journey with me and Lloyd?" asked Colette, thankfully breaking the awkward silence.

"Colette!" exclaimed Lloyd.

"Don't worry, Lloyd. I'm not going to steal your girlfriend." The two blushed as the rest of us laughed. Even Kratos chuckled a little.

"Now, what kind of journey would this be?" I asked Colette.

"A journey to gather up all the Exspheres and destroy them. We don't want any more pain or suffering to be caused by them. Would you like to join us?"

Sweet! I'm being invited to go on a journey with the characters of my favorite video game! Containing my exitement, I replied, "Sure. I'd love to."

"Great! We'll leave in a few days. We all have to put a few things in order before we leave, and get back to our normal lives." Said Colette.

"Sounds good to me. Where are you guys camped?" the group started to walk off, and I followed, planning the journey with Colette and Lloyd.

We had completely forgotten about Mana until she came running after us. "Wait! You forgot to name the Tree!"

Well, that's that. The start to fic #2. I hope you enjoy it. Please R&R!