Disclaimer: I don't own final fantasy or any other game, reference, etc. I shove in here. I only own the characters and other stuff I make up!

Ch.1 Otherworld

Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker? -Garth Nix

Today started out like a normal day. The sound of the music from the alarm to wake us up was as unwelcome as usual telling us that it was time to go to class once again. It was the usual grind of repeatedly hitting the snooze button before finally waking up and heading to our college classes.

(Music playing in the background) The weather is up next! Man says. The weather for Houston, TX is looking good…slight chance of r-. Smack! I finally hit the snooze button after reaching blindly for it.

"Ok, Sarah! Time to get up!" She just groans. Time to make sure she gets up. Turn off fan, and then turn on light and attempt to blind her. Today this fails and I must resort to a different approach. "If you don't get up we'll be late again! I for one do not want to have to retake this stupid class!" She groans waving an arm to shut me up. "I'll leave without you!" This time she gets up grumbling her complaints.

Guess that did the trick. She is up, Jen our other roommate is ready and so am I. We are now in the living room waiting for Sarah to finish putting in her contacts. What color is it this month? Blue…last month they were red. Sarah is mumbling profanities under her breath and she just cannot seem to find her homework for today. Things could not suck more this morning! Finally, we leave and make it to class. We are late, but so is the teacher.

This is kind of the routine for us. We carpool most days and take turns driving there. This would be my first year in college. We're all close to the same age and have similar interests. Sarah and I are both 19, but she is a few months older and we recently moved in with Jen. Jen is 21 almost 22 and is a huge improvement from our previous roommates. The apartment is better too.

Today Sarah and I have a class together. It is kind of a waste of our time. Four hours of something I already know how to do, but I do not have a choice in being there. It is pretty much a snore fest. In fact, two or three people are sleeping during his lecture. It was tempting to do the same, but I spent the time drawing as he droned on.

Lunch time was a welcome part of the day. The Deli in the school is usually crowded. Jen is there and introduces her boyfriend, whom she has talked almost non-stop about. It's obvious they are close as they spend their time talking, kissing, and doing what I assume they think is cute, but to other people is a bit obnoxious. Half a sandwich later and I am ready to go. I don't feel so good. Maybe I'll go home early. I was thinking. There is plenty to do there and I saw no reason to hang around. I'll just let them know not to expect a ride home. After doing that I left.

I rest a bit before doing anything. There are still a few things to unpack so I start there. It's my last box full of old drawings I've done. After going through them there are a few that I don't mind displaying to add some personality to my side of the room. Halfway through the phone rings. I finish putting up a picture of Sephiroth I did years ago and answer.

'Hello. May I speak to Lilia Arne?'

"Speaking." Wow, it's actually a phone call for me. This never happens.

The day before...

In a small town there are few people, but lots of talk. When something big happens it spreads like a wildfire. There are only a few things that have happened in this small town worthy of note and all of them quite mysterious. This one is no different. For some reason the police were crowded around a small house in a small neighborhood where not much happens. None of them enjoyed the scene before them where they were spending much of their time waiting.

"There's so much blood...who would do this?" A detective said.

They were processing the scene and waiting for the ME to arrive. All of them were trying not to disturb anything, but they were also getting tired of looking at it. "Whoever did this had to have a reason."

"This was very personal. I only hope what happens next won't be worse." They talked amongst themselves doing what they could. "Looks like the neighbors are starting to come around. We should talk to them. They might know something. Who called it in?"

"Um...lets see." He flipped through the papers before answering. "The grandmother did. The report states that she lives right next door." He said looking at the house frowning.

"No one has come out of there. Are they home?"

"Actually, they're victims as well. It looks like the next house over was hit as well. Maybe the first one on the way here?" He said wondering.

"There's the ME. Now we can really get the show on the road." He sighed as he walked up to him.

"I'm inspector Lloyd from the Van Zandt county police department. I'm afraid I have some bad news." Bad News? "I am afraid several of your family members have been murdered and we…." Murdered? I drop the phone. I may not like my family and I may even hate a few of them, but this is not something I expected to happen. Why? Who did this? I come to my senses and pick up the phone as he asked if I were still there.

"I'm sorry…this is just…." I stumble with the words. It is hard to think when you hear that kind of bad news. He starts babbling about the killer and asking if I know any of them. I say no to some and yes to some, but I do not think I can help. I do not even live there.

"I understand that this is hard for you, but the killer is still on the loose and we believe might possibly target you." Me? Who…it only takes a second for me to realize that there was a small chance of it. Probably one of my mom's crazy old boyfriends. Boy, did she know how to pick em. I was thinking.

"Miss…."I hear choking on the other end. What the hell's going on over there?

"L-Lloyd?" All I heard was laughing and a totally different voice.

"Hehehe! Just kidding. I killed him hours ago. Just wanted to see if you could figure me out, but you gotta love this voice altering stuff." He said laughing more sounding quite proud of himself. I frowned and my hand tightened on the phone. "Hehehehe! Hello, Lilia…it's been a while hasn't it." That voice sounds familiar, but I don't remember his name. "Poor guy. He should have stayed out of this. Don't worry I'll be seeing you real soon. See I'm not satisfied yet. Got your address from your mom. Just thought I'd give you a chance to run. What will you do? Hahahaha!" He hangs up the phone and all I can do is cry.

I felt a lot of things in that moment. I ended up sitting against the wall trying to process what happened. There were a lot of questions going through my head. Who did he kill? Where was he now? What should I do? For a moment I sat there unable to do anything. I snapped out of it as I heard the doorknob turning and jumped up looking for a weapon in case I need it. It was just Jen and her boyfriend.

"Are you ok?" I calm myself down and do the best I can to tell her. They comment on how horrible it is and tell me to go to bed. "Have you called the police?"

"You came in right after the call…." I said now sitting at the table with them. I was crying, and I could hardly see. I was not really afraid of what he was going to do. Not knowing everything was the part that was getting to me. My mind kept making up things that could have happened and it was just getting worse.

"You just need to compose yourself. We'll call the police and see if they can do anything?" Jen told me as they steered me to the room. "I'll check on you in a little bit and let you know."

I sat there for a minute trying to stop the tears. All I could think was that this must be some kind of sick joke. Part of me really hoped for that, but knew better. If it were, I could go to sleep and just ignore it. I was not able to identify him by his voice alone. I just could not remember him. Lying down I stare at the pictures on the wall trying to clear my thoughts. The picture I put up earlier was there and I could not help but think that if I were strong like he was, this would not be a problem.

I knew that if he were around where my family lives that it might take 4-5 hours to get here. If not then I probably had less time. No idea if Jen has actually called the police, or what they might do, if anything at all. I glance at the clock noting that Sarah would probably be home soon. I was not sure I wanted to deal with her and retelling anything so I hoped that Jen would do that part. I heard the door and felt apprehensive until I knew it was her. She popped her head in to check on me.

"Lilia?"

"I'm fine, just leave me alone. Please." I told her turning away.

"Ok. Jen said a policeman should be coming soon." She told me closing the door. That's something to be thankful for. I thought closing my eyes. I cat-napped, but it turned into sleep quickly, which was very unusual for me.

When I wake up I realized what happened and bolt up. I don't even know how long I've been sleeping. Is he here yet? Will they be able to do anything? It was dark in the room and only the clock was visible. After seeing the time it had not been that long, less than an hour. My heart was beating hard from my momentary panic, but I managed to calm down.

It was strangely quiet until I suddenly felt something hit me hard. Next I feel something heavy on top of me. Someone is laughing and I hear someone scream. Sarah? What is going on? My eyes have now had some time to adjust to the dark and some light is creeping in from the doorway. I can clearly see a large man sitting on top of me and a small glint of something in his hand. Is that a knife? He's here already?! Jen called the police they should've come by now. I scream and grab his arms trying to fight back, but I know it is useless. I am a weakling after all. I know how to scare people, but not someone who has lost his mind.

"I'm kind of disappointed. I thought I might see you running outside to get away, but to find this? Did you think this was a joke? I even gave you time." He said with a questioning look. As soon as he said it I realized that he must have been outside when he called. It also made me think about the police. Did they come and did he kill them too?

"What did you do to them?!" I shouted as we struggled.

"Oh, you're little friends? Or the policeman outside?" He said leaning in a little closer.

"You kill them?" I was starting to feel scared now. He was a lot stronger, but I was not about to give up yet. I was crying and my vision was starting to blur from it.

"Not all of them…and no one is coming to save you." We were still struggling and I was trying so hard to get the knife away, but he was slowly inching it closer to me. For a brief moment I felt strange. Like I couldn't breathe and I couldn't see. I felt my arms getting tired, but at the same time I did not want to give up. The air suddenly felt different. The wind is blowing and the sudden heat feels like it might burn me. The ground had also changed and I felt myself sink into it slightly. I don't stop fighting, but he seems to be stunned for a second as if he just noticed the change, and I manage to get the knife away from him. I do not care about what is going on he has to die!

"What the hell is going on here?" He is looking around at something and I take this opportunity to stab him in the arm. He howls in pain, but quickly pulls it out and jams it into my shoulder. I scream and we struggle, but I start to feel tired again. No! I don't want this! What do I do?!

The next few moments were like a blur. I was suddenly fighting him with more strength than I just had and now I felt more determined. Our struggle ends when a blur of fur attacks him, and I let it have him and run hoping that I will make it to safety. I know I am outside and that I am in a desert. It is hard to run in sand so I am doing more of a jog, but I keep going without looking back. I pass out after maybe half an hour of jogging thinking that if I stop he or the animal might catch up to me.

-You have to wake up. You'll die out there. –

-What? Who are you? –

-... –

I wake up and the sun instantly blinds me. I realize I am outside and what happened before was not a dream. After my eyes adjust, I sit up and look around. I am not in my room anymore …I may not be on earth anymore for all I know. Ok maybe aliens are real…I think I still need to see one to believe that though. "Where the hell am I?" I shout out. I know no one can hear me, but frustration does that to me. I just feel the need to shout. As if to answer my question, I spot a structure that looks familiar. "I don't believe this! That's…it can't be…Gold Saucer?"

My mind is now freaking out trying to figure out the what, when, who, where, and why of this. I draw a blank and lay in the sand with my eyes closed thinking. What now? Why am I even here? Is it just a dream? Am I dead? These questions go through my head and I cannot possibly come up with anything that makes any sense. At the same time I pinch myself just to make sure I'm really awake. Guess this isn't a dream...or maybe just a very realistic one.

All I'm really concerned about is where I am and how I'm going to find help. Gold Saucer is a prison and the desert is pretty big and there is no escape that I know of. I'm sure there might be one, but doubtful I will be finding it. I look around and realize that I may be farther into the desert area than I wanted.

What should I do? If I head to Gold Saucer, I'm basically going to prison. They'd never let me out. I might get help, but then again I don't know. I stand up looking around. I had gone a long way. Should I even go back there? I thought wondering if he might still be there. That animal could be there too. "Was it a monster?" I said aloud. I spotted something. It was just a black dot with legs at first, but then I realized that it was something else. "A wolf?"

It was hard to tell what it was, but I did not want to find out. If it were dangerous there was no way I could deal with it. I can't go back there with him there. I have to head towards Corel for now at least. Otherwise, I'll just get killed when he finds me. I can be resourceful when I need to be, but I decide to stay downwind as best I could and find a place to hide until nightfall. Trying to go anywhere during the day might kill me. I luckily found a place that worked well enough to shade me and hide me. Once night hit I headed towards Corel.

After about four or five days I realize I haven't gotten very far or at least it seemed that way. At least I had some things with me. I realized the first day that I was wearing a backpack filled with different things. No idea where it came from, but who am I to complain. It had some food in it, and other items that I assumed were potions and the like. There was even some materia in there. It had more in it than I had expected, which weighed me down, but like I was going to leave that behind. It took me a while, but I managed to identify most of it.

There was a large pouch full of money. I was not really sure how much it was, but I would find out later when I found someone to help me. No weapons, but there was an armlet in there. Lots of potions, and ethers and even a few elixirs. I assumed the feathers were phoenix downs. The materia was harder, but since one was red I assumed it was a summons. I have no idea how to use the materia so I guess I'll just keep it in here.

I hoped the armlet would help protect me if I got attached. Having these things was nice, but what I really needed was to find someone who could help me. The only things I saw out there was the monster that was apparently following me and it did not help that there were other monsters out there and I had to avoid them too. Days of this took a toll on me and I black out before I even realize it.

Upon waking up, I find that I am no longer outside. I can only assume that someone found me and took me to either the prison or Corel. I will be thanking them when my voice comes back...maybe. My first attempts to speak were painful probably due to the heat, sand, and little water. For right now, they will have to live with nods. I look out the window and it looks like Corel. I sigh in relief that it isn't the prison.

"You're awake! We thought you might be dead." A nice and cheery woman says from the doorway smiling at me. Unfortunately, I make eye contact and she takes that as an "I'm ok" look and proceeds to drag me into her 'kitchen' and shoves me in a chair. "Sit here and I'll get you something to eat." She goes on and on talking obliviously not caring if I respond; while making some foul smelling soup she says is good for me.

The house is quaint and looks like it could fit a small family of three in it. Looks better than I remember seeing the homes look in the game. The walls are grey and the table and chairs are metal. She is still talking to me. Doesn't she know I am not listening? The soup is done and she puts it in front of me. Ew! Smells horrible! I frown at it and push it away. She keeps trying and I just decide to try it hoping this will make her back off. She gives my shoulder a tap or two that tells me I'm going to be sore all over. I was just glad it was not the other one, which she had bandaged for me. "That hurts ya know!" I choke out almost spitting out the soup. "This stuff is gross."

"What you don't like it?" I violently shake my head no! "Hm. You should eat it though. You'll feel better a lot faster, and it's good for your throat." The last words are more than enough to force me to eat it. I was hungry after all and if it actually does help me I guess I should just take it. Maybe then I will figure out what is going on and how to get home. I find myself smiling and she is looking at me strangely. She keeps talking and I eat trying to listen, but most of it has nothing to do with me.

"You're very lucky we were passing by. We made a delivery to the prison and found you passed out when we came back. You were pretty far into the desert. What were you thinking? You could've died out there."

I coughed before answering her. "Had to do something." I said before coughing again. This one was bad enough to hurt my chest. "Stay in one place...and a monster might get you. And I'm not fond of prisons."

"I see. So you were running from..." She paused hearing the door.

The door opens and a little girl and a dog come in. The dog runs over to me and knocks me onto the floor in his excitement. "Stop that! Bad dog! Honey, take him outside please!" She scolded. "My daughter Shana." She said looking apologetic. I get up, with help, and finish the soup. I feel even worse than before thanks to the dog. Should I really feel this bad?

In my head it was worse than it actually was. It was a long trek through the desert full of monsters that I either managed to avoid or only narrowly avoided. The backpack helped with food, but I had to eat small portions. I only had a large bottle that was attached to the pack with a clip and once that was gone I had to find my own water. I knew how, but it was not something I had ever practiced so it was harder to do than I wanted.

Avoiding the monsters had been a challenge, but hiding under the sand proved pretty affective and many of them did ignore me. I guess even after a week of sleeping in a bed I might still feel bad. A few days of recovery would probably help, but I had a lot of questions and she was all I had right now. However, it would have to wait until I can talk better. She was still talking and her cheery demeanor labeled her as the "Cheery Lady" for now. I had missed her name, or just forgotten it, I was not sure.

Looking outside I can see that the town is bustling. People all over the place going here or there and the train noisily transporting coal. This told me a lot. It meant that it must be before the game events, but how much time until then I had no idea. The woman helping me explained a few things to me. She told me where I was, which only confirmed that I was in Corel and told me a little about the town. All of this confirmed what I already thought.

Shinra and Wutai are at war, but it has only been going on for about five or six years. Mostly they are dealing in weapons right now and have started Mako production. They are already here in this town taking away from mining coal. The rebels have been causing trouble for Shinra and the town. They are actually trying to help the town, but they are actually hurting it more in her opinion.

Shinra has become very aggressive towards the other towns and other kinds of energy. She thinks they just want to be the number one in everything. I decide that is enough. It is a lot of information for me when I do not feel very good. Sitting on the bed I was taking more time to really examine myself. My clothes were different and I appeared to have gotten shorter. Without a mirror I could not get a good look at myself. That is something I would need to do soon.

The next day Cheery lady, or Arna, as I finally got her name down was gone most of the day taking her daughter with her. That left just me and their dog. I just did this and that trying to pass the time. They finally returned and informed me that as soon as I was well enough we were all going to Gold Saucer to "celebrate".

Today, since I was feeling better I decided to walk around for a little bit and actually see the town for myself. This is when I was able to look at myself better. I asked if anyone had one and managed to get a glimpse of myself. I was not happy with what I saw.

I was definitely shorter and I looked younger. It's not like I had not noticed the differences, but actually seeing it like this was more shocking. I did not even recognize the person I was seeing. Before I had been more preoccupied with survival and finding help. Now I had time for it. I look like a twelve year old! What the hell happened to me?

How or why did this happen? Was there even a reason? Or is this just something that happens in this kind of situation? The reasoning behind it all eluded me. I could not seem to come up with an explanation for where I was, why I was here, and why I had changed so much. I just decided that I would have to find out later. Sitting around like this was not going to find the answer for me. After a bit of exploring I went back to Arna's house.

One week later….

I am better now and, as promised by Arna, we are now headed to Gold Saucer. I liked coming here on the game. I got good at most of the games and I have my doubts that I will actually be that good here in real life. Many noisy, excited little kids are with us on the tram and they are literally making it rock side to side. Their mothers are apologizing to everyone while attempting to make them stay still. So far none of them have done that.

We arrive and I have to take a moment to look at everything. It is impressive on the game, but when you actually get to see it, it is awesome! Everything shines and in the corner of the entrance there is cleaning equipment with a few people standing there talking in a tight circle. They must keep this place really clean.

We head over to buy tickets and go in. I am glad that I had her explain gil to me. Once she did that I was able to count the money I had. It was a lot! Another mystery that I was not going to argue with. I also thought about buying the gold ticket. It would take a while to gather enough GP for it, but would I even be coming back here? Arna hands me my ticket before I can decide and pulls me inside. She is pointing towards a tunnel stating Wonder Square. Woot! The arcade! Since I have an insane amount of gil I can play everything! I don't know if she knows that.

She steers her daughter to the games she wants her to play and tells me to play whatever until they're ready to go somewhere else. The first thing I notice is that there is a guy drooling over the Mog House game. He is whining to a friend that he cannot beat it. …could that be the same guy? Or a relative? Maybe that guy is his son? I hear him say he will give away a lot of GP if someone wins…or shows/tells him how to do it. I think I will just be better and show him up for the GP. I also had the feeling that if I did not play now I would not get the chance. I play and it goes by so slowly…this game is just too easy. Mog is done and he has impressed the girl and the guy is standing behind me looking in awe as I beat it.

"How did you know what to do? I've never figured it out!" How many times have you played this game?

"Here!" He gives me 50GP. "This is for showing me how to do it!" I wonder if he really figured it out. He boots me off the game and starts playing.

I move on to the 3D Battler. I am expecting to suck at it. I know how to get past the first two guys, but can I apply it to now? I manage to beat the first one, but the second one beats me. I am a little disappointed that I could not do it and decided that for the hell of it I am going to try the fortuneteller. Put in 50gil and go. It moves, the eyes glow, paper comes out.

You have a bleak future ahead

That doesn't sound good. I rip it to shreds and throw it away. No one else needs to see it. "Ok. I am not going to play super dunk. I hate basketball…that and I suck at it." There is a line to play the wonder catchers and Arna is playing that. I think she played Mog House to, but like most people lost because they are not that observant. A few hours later and many defeats on the 3D Battler we leave Wonder Square. Arna is sighing a lot. It might be because her daughter is annoying the hell out of her. She wants to see the Chocobos. Hell…so do I. I LOVE them!

She decided to spoil our fun and we went to Event Square. I wasn't too disappointed since I loved going here on the game. Being there now made me smile thinking of the different things I had done on the game. It was very nostalgic for me. It also made me a little sad because I was thinking of home too. I wonder what's going on there?

They picked someone out of the audience. Me and some guy and we got to choose what happened. I got my way and he kissed the dragon. Everyone laughed and he just glared at me. I may as well be entertained while I am here. Arna did not think it was funny almost scolding me. Then we went to Chocobo Square to watch the races. Finally! They are so cute! I want to ride one. If I had one then I would race one…if it were good. Arna just shakes her head at us as we totally freak out with excitement. I decide to try to pick the winner and hey I actually win a few times! Of course, I'm not betting so I am not actually winning anything. Arna wants to go and I really want to go to Speed Square to try the roller coaster. She objects saying that it is too violent for her daughter to ride. "I could ride it by myself?" She just tells me it is time to go home and she is getting tired. I'm a little disappointed, but we are all tired and even the daughter looks ready to go.

Back at her house we all ate dinner and then went to sleep. For some reason the words from the fortuneteller were echoing in my dream. Maybe it is just my overactive imagination trying to do what it does best. Make something that could happen seem ten times worse than it is. Like when one of my step-dads burnt something. I had a dream two weeks before that he burnt down the house instead. Now is one of those times.

I am still in Corel and it is dark. Storm clouds cover the city and threaten to rain down on us. The fortuneteller's words echo in the air catching on the breeze swirling around me. All I can imagine is the worst possibilities for myself. I see all sorts of monsters around me and I hear the wind howling and all sorts of disconcerting sounds all around me. There are people there too. A strange piercing laugh makes me wince and I look for the source, but it seems to emanate from all around me.

I turn around and a tall hunched man is standing there looking down at me. All I could really see of him were his eyes and the grin on his face. I backed away not really sure what was about to happen. He reached out and grabbed my arms and I squirmed trying to get out of his grip. It was stronger than I had anticipated. And then his voice when he spoke made me freeze. The light changed and now I could see a long white coat he was wearing and the details in his face came out. After a moment or two of staring at him, I realized who it was. He was not someone I wanted to meet right now.

I did still have my doubts that all of this was really happening, but even so. This is something I would not wish upon my enemy, much less myself. Hojo stood there talking to me. He grinned, laughed, and held on tightly to my arms. I pulled back, but could not free myself. I felt the fear welling up.

-Wake up! –

My dream is interrupted and I am very thankful. Everything goes black and the voice keeps insisting that I wake up, but for some reason it was hard.

Author: Garth Nix quote from The Old Kingdom/Abhorsen series.

Fanfic Pics: There are several pics I drew for this story link on my profile page under this story description. They depict certain characters and events in the story. You may also view my other works on my SA.N profile if you wish, which is also linked on my profile.

R&R, Flamers welcome. They make me laugh.

EDITS: This story is currently being edited! Because it is complete edits will not show up as updates. The only way to show it's been edited is to look in this section. A note that the chapter has been edited/updated will be here. The writing will be inconsistent until all edits are complete. Edits will vary between light and heavy depending on what I need to do to the chapters. Please be patient and understanding of this.

Also, this chapter has been edited!