Introduction

Hey, this is the first fanfic I've written, well, ever, so don't expect too much out of me. I hope I can at least get your attention, because if not I've failed as a writer and a person and must commit honorable seppuku in order to… no, never mind, that's not funny.

Anyway, I guess I should explain a bit about the story itself. It picks up from the end of the final battle of Star Ocean 3, and is entirely in first-person point of view. You'll see a different person's point of view each chapter. Fayt will be the first, and then it'll cycle through all the others. I haven't decided whose POV to use for the final chapter. If there's someone you want it to be, review and tell me.

Anyway, that said: I do not own anything related to Star Ocean, not even a keychain. Squaresoft owns all of it. The only thing I own is the parts of the plot of this story that I wrote myself. See? I'm not claiming anything! Don't hurt meeeeee!

Now, on with the stupid story-type thing.

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"I don't believe it! They're nothing but data! Why am I being deleted… destroyed?!"

As Luther began to radiate an intense light, I drew back, signaling the others to do the same. It was all over. The man who had been set on deleting everything was dying. With a final flash of light, he was gone…

But we were too late.

As Luther vanished, so did everything else. Darkness engulfed us as the universe was reduced to nothing.

Funny, somehow that wasn't what I was expecting.

I don't know how long I drifted through that nothingness, waiting to become part of it myself. I guess no time really passed at all, since time as we knew it no longer existed. Then, suddenly, something changed. The void gave way to tall grass, and when I opened my eyes I realized where I was. It couldn't be… but it was.

Elicoor.

I was lying facedown outside the city of Peterny. I stood up and, looking around, I saw that everyone else was there too, somehow. Most of them seemed as surprised as I was, though Peppita seemed almost oblivious to everything around her, humming something to herself and looking pretty relaxed, and Albel just wore his usual scowl. Adray was stretching, a perfectly natural reaction after his near-death experience, while Cliff sat there rubbing his head as if he had the worst hangover of his life. Blair was nowhere to be found, and I wondered what had happened, if she had died along with her brother.

And then there was Sophia. She made eye contact and smiled at me, but I could tell she was caught off-guard just like everyone else. I returned the smile, then spoke up. "What happened?" was all I could think to say. Nobody seemed inclined to attempt to answer at first, except Albel, who grumbled, "How the hell should I know? Idiot." Maria seemed deep in thought, and eventually came to a conclusion. "Perhaps we still exist because we believe we exist," she said. "And our perception of the universe has kept it safe for us." I pondered this for a minute myself, and decided we weren't likely to find a better explanation. Roger, on the other hand, wasn't satisfied with this. "Aw, that's way too confusing!" he whined. This elicited some laughter from the rest of the group. Even Albel chuckled a little.

Finally, Sophia spoke. "Now that it's over," she said, "does that mean we can finally go home?" I nodded in agreement. "Yes, Sophia, we can go home." Maria put a call through to the Diplo, saying that we would be ready to leave in three hours. That would be enough time to tie up all the loose ends on this planet.

A little later, I was standing in the throne room of Castle Airyglyph. Cliff, Albel, and I had decided to give the news on the fate of the universe to the king, while Nel, Maria, and Adray met with the Queen of Aquaria. That left Mirage and Sophia to stay with the younger members of our party in Peterny, since Roger had elected not to return to Surferio until it was time for the rest of us to leave. I wondered if just the two of them would be enough. While Albel was going on about the entire story in incredibly graphic detail, I leaned against the wall, imagining the massive structural damage any nearby building would have sustained by now if there was any sugar in reach. I shuddered at the thought of Roger's axe blasting through a support beam.

"…so, there you have it. We won, and the world is safe again, or at least as safe as it ever was," concluded Albel. The king nodded. "This is a great day for Airyglyph, and for all of Elicoor. Your deeds will never be forgotten so long as the kingdom stands." After a few more formalities, we took our leave. Albel departed for the Kirlsa training facility, with only a grunt as a farewell, and Cliff and I returned to Peterny. I couldn't help but vocalize my fears. Constantly. Much to Cliff's dismay. As we got closer I held my breath in anticipation, certain the town would be on fire when we arrived, but it seemed my fears were unfounded. "See, what did I tell you," said Cliff. "Now can you shut up about it? I nodded, not entirely relieved.

At the inn, where we had agreed to meet, Maria was already waiting for us, Nel and Adray having stayed at Castle Aquaria. She apparently sensed my anxiety. "They're in that room," she said simply, pointing to a room down the hall. "From what Mirage told me, they haven't been out since shortly after we left." Cliff began discussing something or other with Maria as I hurried to check on them. Inside the room was a half-conscious Peppita lying in a bed, with Roger and Sophia sitting beside her. "What happened here?" I asked quietly, with a glance at the girl in the bed. Sophia quickly stood and began to explain. "Well, you see, Peppita somehow got hold of some sweets…"

"From your bag," Roger interrupted, with a tone halfway between amusement and annoyance.

Sophia's face went slightly red. "Yeah… well, she got a bit of a sugar rush, and, well, she had a bad fall…" Sophia said, with an extremely apologetic look on her face. Anyone could tell she blamed herself for the whole thing. Peppita sat up in the bed and shook her head. "I'm okay, really!" she assured us. "Well, that's a load off my mind," I said. "I thought someone would be seriously injured." Peppita smiled. "Nope! I'm just fine!"

When I returned to the entrance, I found that Mirage had joined Cliff and Maria. They all seemed a little worried. I approached cautiously. "Hey, guys… is something wrong?" I asked. They looked at one another, then looked at me with troubled expressions. Although I'm not a mind reader, I was pretty sure that wasn't a good sign. "Uh… guys?" Maria was the first to speak. "We got word from Marietta, there's a suspicious ship tailing them. They're going to try and shake them, but I've got a bad feeling about the whole thing." I nodded in understanding, and sat down to wait.

A few minutes later, we got a communication from the Diplo. "We've managed to lose them," announced Marietta. "We're going to have to make this quick, because I don't want to stick around any longer than I have to." Maria nodded in agreement, and soon we were boarding the ship. Roger, alone, waved at us from the ground as we disappeared from sight and took off.

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I know this is probably a little weak, but I'm still trying to get into the swing of things. Please read and review, I know I need work but I don't know what. And keep in mind, this is just an introduction...