Chapter the First: The Playing

When you think of America you don't normally think of the number of states it contains at first. When the number does come to your mind, you do start listing them in your head though, but you might not have the patience to name them all. When the names start running through your head, the first you think of wouldn't normally be Ohio. For as the t-shirt says 'Nothing to see since 1803.'

But this does have relative importance since that is where I live. My name is Jen Green, age 15, occupation high school student: Freshman. Like most people my age, I keep wishing that something cool will happen to me, like in manga. Yes, I am a bit of an otaku, I've almost been expecting something to happen really; in manga the unlikely hero/heroine usually gets the news at this age. But instead of an action genre like I wanted it to be...it's turning out to be shojo.

"I look like a freaking GLAM GIRL!!!"

"You look fine, now choose a necklace."

"What's Rose going to say if she sees me like this!? My reputation will crumble to dust!"

My mom is helping me get ready for a school dance. My dress is covered with various shades of blue, my favorite color. It's sleeveless, and fans out in a slightly wavy pattern a little above my ankles. Somehow, against all logic known to man, my feet were squeezed into navy blue, one inch heels. My brown hair is tied up in a bun. I've never really bothered with stupid things like this before but...

-Flashback-

Rose and I were talking about my birthday party. It was a rather lame party, but there were some high points. Me and the other two people who attended got very high on sugar. Apparently Rose wanted to tell all of our associates about the crazed activities that ensued.

"...You got the pictures developed..."

"Yup, including the one with Bob the Ameba, Lindsey is going to laugh her head off!"

"Don't you dare show that to her! Or anyone else!"

"Not this time Jen! Melissa is going to faint, Maura will beat you up for not inviting her..." Rose continued to list the reactions of the people she would tell.

"Dammit Rose get rid of those pictures or I'll shove them down you're throat!"

"Wait..." Her voice had taken on a sing-songy tone. "I smell blackmail..."

-End Flashback-

Self explanatory ne? Don't ask about the party...please...

Anyway, somehow the news managed to get around and out of pity, another friend of mine, Daniel Young, also a freshman, decided to act as my 'date.' Now I have to admit, I like him. No denying it. I even told him how I felt when he was under threat of moving away. He had a girlfriend already so I knew nothing would really happen, but I just wanted him to know if I never saw him again. As it turns out, he didn't move and we pretty much stayed where we were relationship wise. His girlfriend, Robin, doesn't seem to have any objections about the 'date' either; she hasn't brought it up much so I figure she's either alright with it because of the reason, or just doesn't want to talk about it. I don't blame her either, it is a touchy subject.

I chose a necklace with a black, silky cord, and a small, amber amulet. The piece looked like a yin-yang symbol, only there were two edges that jutted off of the circle, giving it a more oval-like shape. It's a symbol from one of my favorite video game, the Seal of Mar. It's just a piece of junk that I found by the lake outside my house. For a day or so I thought it was a sign, but no, my life was still as typical as ever. To be honest, I really just chose it to get my Mom to leave me alone. She was about to go off about how it didn't really match my outfit, when something horrifying and wonderful happened.

The doorbell rang.

(I could be really evil and stop right here, but that would hinder my creative process since I have to get the most boring chapter out of the way. This will get better, I promise.)

I darted down the stairs, as fast as my hurting feet would allow and found Daniel in the doorway talking to Dad. They must have heard me, because Dad looked rather proud when he saw me, and Daniel...his mouth hung open for a split second. He must have caught himself and for whatever reason decided not to continue. I saw he was dressed in an almost suit-like outfit, complete with a tie. His light brown hair was tied in a low ponytail. He let it grow out for whatever reason, when it was tied like that he almost looked like a girl. I also noticed he was a couple of inches taller than me when I stood next to him.

"You look wonderful honey!" Dad voiced with a sense of Pride.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you were going to prom." Mom said from the top of the staircase.

I felt blood rush to my face at the attention. "C-can we go now?" My words seemed to break the spell that had claimed my date.

"Yeah, we'll just go now, we can walk to the school from here."

A rather long, but seemingly mandatory list of things not to do was recited to us: don't accept car rides from anyone, call before you come back, don't stay out past eleven, the works. We didn't really say much walking there, but I did ask about this rather large bag he was carrying.

"It's something that will cheer you up." Was his only response.

When we arrived, the gym was already full. I began looking for Rose, so she would get rid of those ridiculous photos. I saw her sitting on the bleachers in the gym where the dance was, next to who I assumed was her date. She spotted me as well and motioned for me to come. I reluctantly sat next to her, fuming for all I was worth.

My friend was clad in a red dress, very similar to mine; only the edges of hers were rather ragged, giving the impression of fire. Her shoes were also red, and had a tiny bit of string on them. They had signs of being cut by something, probably some unwanted accessory that was removed. Her hair was a shade darker than mine and in a high ponytail.

Her partner I identified as Charlie. Rose knows him a lot better than I do, because they go to church together. His hair is black and curly and his face as a whole is a tad long. There are faint traces of freckles on his cheeks. His outfit was white with a bow tie; he probably was going for the James Bond look.

"I see you kept your end of the bargain." Rose said pushing her glasses up her nose.

"That I did. Now give me the photos."

She handed me an envelope which I opened to find she was true to her word as well. I vowed to burn them when I got home.

"Well, I've had my laugh, what say we forget this ever happened?" Rose said, returning to her regular self.

"Yes, we'll do that." I agreed.

"Didn't you come with somebody?" Charlie asked.

"Of course I did, he-" I turned around and saw that Daniel wasn't in the area. Oh well, he didn't really have to stick around, but it would have been nice...

I shrugged it off, and for a few minutes Rose, Charlie and I talked about various things. Mostly activities one can do when sugar high. I was just about to leave when Daniel came back.

"Jen hold on, I see the bulk of the bargain is done."

"Yeah, I'm going to burn these when I get home." I replied gesturing to the envelope.

"I brought along something to make you feel better. Video games do burn stress a bit I think."

"Well, it is nice to be able to kill something after you've had a rough day. But...wait, you didn't have to do anything!"

"Oh, it wasn't really that hard aside from filching a key to a classroom, come on, who doesn't want to play games in school?"

His argument was pretty good, but I couldn't believe he had done something like this for me. Well, he's a bit weird like that, but that's part of why I like him. A lot of my friends are pretty high on the weird factor. Anyway, I followed him through the hallways. Apparently this was the only one that wasn't sealed off by a fence. He flashed the key and used it to open the door. I recognized the room as the one I had Global Studies in, with a key difference: A PS2 was plugged into the TV. Sitting beside it were three games, all three parts of the Jak and Daxter trilogy!

"Voila!" Daniel said dramatically gesturing to the display. Before I could stop myself, I had thrown my arms around him in a tight hug.

"Thank you so much! How did you know I liked those games?"

"Well, you do bring it up now and then at lunch, so I figured you were a fan."

I then realized that I was hugging him and quickly pulled away as a deep blush came to my face. "S-sorry...I d-didn't mean to do that..." Daniel looked like he was trying to stay calm, but I noticed a light shade of red on his cheeks as well.

"Forget it..."

I hadn't played any of the games in a while since I had to focus a lot of my time on school work, but this right here seemed to be the perfect vengeance. I opened the system and put in the first of the three. As the system started to load the game, I thought I could hear two more people enter the room.

"So, you seem to have found a way to occupy yourself." Rose's said from the doorway. The hairs on the back of my neck bristled.

"Are you /trying/ to act like Roy Mustang, and annoy me whenever possible?" I replied as I turned to face her. Charlie was with her of course, and they both came into the room.

"No, I just like seeing you act like Edward."

"Jak and Daxter?" Charlie inquired, examining the box for the game. "Never heard of it. What's it about?"

"Stick around and you'll find out." Daniel said pointing at the screen. The two exchanged glances and sat in a couple of desks facing the screen. I selected 'New Game,' and the opening began to play. The screen revealed a pool of dark eco, pink particles of energy swirling in a black and purple liquid. I awaited the monologue from Samos, but the voice did not come, the screen remained as it was, the evil substance swirling on the screen.

"What gives?" Rose said sounding annoyed.

"Maybe it's a glitch?" Charlie offered.

Alex opened the PS2 and examined the disk. "There aren't any scratches on it as far as I can tell."

"Wait," I said, "the dark eco is still there." Sure enough, the element was still covering the set. Alex tried to change the channel, but that did nothing. Charlie unplugged the TV, but the image still remained.

"Something's not right here..." Rose's voice was layered with suspicion. The rest of us nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, my amulet shone with a pale light and shot a beam to the dark eco screen. A voice resonated in our heads.

'The amulet has called, it wants to return.'

The beam returned to the amber piece.

'It's owner shall be rewarded for retuning it.'

The beam separated into four, each one, hitting each of us square in the chest.

'You all played a part in returning the seal, you will be rewarded as such.'

The screen turned completely white, and seemed to become some sort of passageway.

"A rift..."