*IMPORTANT* - This is a sequel to Fonic Interruption. FI is about the pre-game universe of TOA with Kratos in it, major changes to the game events occurred in that fic. But if you don't want to read it and just want to jump to the part where the actual game event starts, I've written down a few key points that you needed to know to understand this fic in the A/N after the prologue (the prologue itself doesn't have any relation to FI). Turn back now if you want to read Fonic Interruption and don't want spoilers!

Things you need to know before reading this chapter:

- Character thinking

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia and Tales of the Abyss

Prologue: Wrong Destination

Darkness. That's the only thing he saw as he looked around. Everywhere he looked was covered in the colour of plain black. Nothing above him but darkness, and even though he knew he was standing on something, he couldn't see anything except darkness underneath him, not even his own feet. Normally one would panic when they couldn't even see their own body parts, but he didn't think it was a problem or just didn't care. He didn't know where he was nor did he want to know. His mind felt sluggish and all he wanted to do at the current moment was to run away from it all.

Wait? What was I running from? He tried to come up with an answer to that but quickly dismissed any rational thought that dared invade his mind and tore him away from the calmness he was feeling just by staying where he was, within the total darkness and without anything to worry about.

He wanted to sleep and closed his eyes, but it didn't matter whether his eyes were closed or not, the scenery he 'saw' was the same either way. Something in the back of his mind also supplied that he couldn't sleep even if he wanted to but he also waved away that voice. He just wanted to get away from everything an-

Wake up!

He snapped his eyes wide open at the voice. It sounded familiar but he couldn't place it. The voice disappeared leaving silence behind and he started to close his eyes again when he heard the call for him to wake up again, though this time it was another familiar voice that called to him. He didn't know what he was looking for as he turned his head around in the total darkness. He tried but failed to seek out the source of the voices.

Wake up!

There it was again, and with another different voice from the first two. He tried to figure out which direction it came and-

Wake up!

He turned around again and before he could even register what was happening, he heard many different voices telling him to wake up at the same time. All of the voices carried the same feeling of urgency, but among them all, one sounded the most desperate to him and he started running towards that direction. He wanted to make the voice stop, but at the same time he couldn't just ignore the urgency in them. He felt he was getting closer and closer to the origin of that desperate voice that somehow made his heart clench uncomfortably the most. He stretched out his arm, wanting to reach the invisible source of voice, and-

He opened his eyes and bolted up from the ground he was lying on. His arm still stretched forward in front of him with his palm opened. He was panting harshly when he pulled back his arm and looked at the palm of his own hand. He stared at it with a dumbfounded expression and tried to figure out what happened to him.

He gasped as memories started flashing through his mind. Happy memories that made him eager to continue his life by his family and friends' side, painful memories that shaped him into the person he was today, sad memories that made him want to cry but he still kept it close to his heart as they were also precious to him. Then came the scene of the most recent happenings that led to his current situation, he finally remembered what he was doing here and why.

He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply and let out a shaky breath. He opened his eyes again and let his hand fell back down to his side as he, with dread, took in the forest he woke up in. He started shaking his head as he took in the peaceful and calm environment surrounding him and very slowly raised his head to the sky. He looked at the dark blue sky above him that was laced with countless stars and also the round full moon in the middle of it telling him that it was night time, and that everything was wrong.

No. He let out another shaky breath he didn't know he had been holding since he first saw the green trees before him, all the while still shaking his head.

No. It isn- I'm not supposed to be here. He gasped as he felt immense despair coursing through his whole body.

He closed his eyes again and tried to calm himself down by regulating the pace of his breathing. Several minutes later when he deemed himself calm enough, he crawled to a nearby tree. He hold onto it with his hands and started to hurl his very exhausted body up to a standing position. After several failed attempts, he was finally able to stand up with shaky legs, though he was still using the tree to support himself. Now that he was standing up, he could see further. H esaw a field full of flowers some distance away from his current position.

The scenery was very beautiful, as one would expect when looking at the flower field in the deepest part of Tataroo Valley during night time, not that the man knew the name of the place he was currently looking at, nor did he care how beautiful it was. His mind was in a jumble as he stared with disbelief at the scenery before him and unconsciously willing everything to go away. He stretched out his senses to his surroundings and after focusing very hard, he let out yet another shaky breath as he couldn't find what he was looking for.

He brought up his hands and stared with wide eyes at his open palms. I- I failed... an- and now I am stuck in this unknown place without any means to go ba-

His eyes became even wider as he remembered something else and started frantically looking around. His gaze finally fell onto two swords, one red and one blue, lying on the grass not far away from him. He tried stretching his leg and when he thought he could handle walking a small distance, he left the tree and clumsily stumbled towards the two swords. He gently picked them up and looked at the blade that looked much duller than before. Many thoughts raced through his mind as he tried to put the swords together and nothing happened.

He closed his eyes tightly and tried very hard to fight back the tears that were threatening to come up to his eyes. He thought back to his home, his family, his friends, and all the people that placed their hope in him. He finally shook his head to rid of any negative thoughts that came up. This wasn't the time to wallow in grief. This wasn't the time to just stop because of one mistake, no matter how grave that mistake was. He wasn't allowed to even think of giving up. He was the only hope left and he would succeed.

It's alright, everything will be alright. If I give up now, then I will really fail. Right, as long as I don't give up, everything will be alright.

He opened his eyes again and this time, instead of despair, determination shone in his eyes as he began to think about what he should do next. Lloyd Irving Aurion was never a person to give up even in the direst situation.

Author's Note:

Yes. I know the prologue looked confusing, but somehow I myself like prologue that's confusing as hell... maybe it's because of the suspense ^^" Hopefully such a confusing start won't deter you from continue reading this fic.

As promised, here's the major twists you needed to know before reading chapter 1 of this story:

1. Instead of Van, Asch chose to follow Kratos when he left Baticul. Read Ch. 25-28 of FI if you want to know more about it.

2. Kratos knew Van wanted to overthrow the Score and had been keeping tabs on him as he didn't want Van to do too much harm to the world with whatever plan he had. Mostly mentioned in Ch. 8-10, 19 of FI.

3. Dist was a triple agent for Kratos and spied on both Van and Mohs. The reshaping of the personality of the God-General mostly took place in Ch.11, 14-17 of FI.

4. Cantabile, who was the unofficial adopted daughter of the previous Fon Master, Evenos, and the unofficial sister of original Ion also worked with Kratos to keep tabs on Van. Cantabile first showed up in Ch. 13 of FI.

5. Kratos was facing the crisis of having his own life mana, the mana of Derris Kharlan and the angels on it being converted to Seventh Fonon, which was actually a more serious problem than it sounded. The Cruxis Crystals on the angels would become functionless once the conversion completed, making it the same as a forced removal of the Cruxis Crystal from the host bodies without Rune Crests. Read Ch. 22-24&30 of FI if you want a better explanation

I think that's about all the major things you needed to know, so now, sit back and enjoy this story, or if you want, go to my profile and click onto Fonic Interruption, read it, get a grasp on what's going on and come back to read this fic^^

Uploaded on 17 June 2013.