A hero is some who, in spite of weakness, doubt or not always knowing the answers, goes ahead and overcomes anyway.
- Christopher Reeve

I was just strolling through town, y'know?

I mean, sure, something could've happened on the spot, but it really was just a normal day.

Although it was odd, considering the fact that it was a cloudless sky and it was winter over where I lived, everything seemed fine.

People ignored me, as I ignored them. I wasn't really much of a standout to begin with.

I walked across the left side of the sidewalk from my bus-stop to my house, just so that if anyone got the attention of any cars that drove from the right side, that attention certainly wouldn't be directed towards me.

Hey, where I am right now, people drive on the left side of the road. Everywhere else was right. Well, most places anyway.

That's besides the point, though. The sky was nice, correct.

I was walking on the sidewalks, check.

My clothes were tweaked to juuuuuuust the right amount of weirdness, that's something to note about. I take pride in my individuality.

My bag was heavy. Couldn't be stuffed getting a locker.

Everything seemed to be right. Nothing was unbalanced, or disorientated.

Oh, damn me and my fanfiction reading. I've been checking up on quite a few serious fanfictions, most coming from Fairy Tail. Self-inserts, to be more precise. All those fanfictions have gotten me to say big and odd words that seem to be quite rare out of modern teenager's vocabular-

There we go again. Let's pretend this never happened.

So, like, I was walking normally until I felt both my feet and brain freeze on a chilling thought.

"...I completely forgot about Syth!"

My sister, if you were wondering. We both have odd names, if I do say so myself.

I quickly turned on my heel and started heading off towards the opposite directions. My mum would've scolded me if I came home without my sister right next to me.

As I started to walk, I started to see my sister off in the distance. I raised my left hand in the air and proceeded to wave in a goofy way. Hey, I'm a rather idiotic brother. It's kinda my job to embarrass my dear little sister.

She looked like she face-palmed a bit, before waving back in a silly matter as well. A grin just couldn't stop itself from reaching my lips. My goodness, were we siblings or what?

My left hand slipped back into my left pocket as I continued to listen to a random K-Pop song. Yes, my sister was the main cause of this new-found addiction. No, I'm not obsessed with K-Pop itself.

Then, it happened.

I don't necessarily know how it happened, but it did.

Time seemed to slow down for me, my eyes blinking a bit owlishly before going wide. I felt like... like I was swimming?

No, no... like an adrenaline rush? I only get those during a swimming competition, though...

I heard a shrilly, loud scream starting to resonate through my ears. Even if the sound was new to me, I knew exactly who screamed.

I lifted my head mid-step to check if my sister was alright, if she was fine.

It probably should've been me that I had to be worried about.

There was a car, mid-air, flipped onto its side and heading straight towards me. ME. Out of all the people, me?

It was like the heavenly being up high was screwing with me or something.

It was flipping madly, like it was in the middle of a stunt scene in an action film. Windows shattered, doors hanging off its hinges, whole outer layer of metal dented to oblivion.

And this colossal, one-ton thing was thrown towards me at crazy speeds.

I couldn't focus on anything else. Pretty sure when there's a car that's going to smack you like a crazy guy that's gonna whack you with some sledgehammer, that's all you'd be focused on.

I wanted to duck down, I really did. When I was still training in Tae-Kwon Do, my master always said that your floor is your friend.

Well, fuck the floor and fuck gravity, because it's dead obvious I won't dodge in time.

It was like a titanic bullet, for all we know. Of course I'm sooooo getting smashed.

So? I may as well get a dying wish.

I was surprised at how slow the time felt for me. Really, I was. I guess a few people, when they're about to die, get some time to repent for anything or wish for something before they're off the face of this Earth.

I'm probably one of those lucky guys. I've got terrible luck, so I'll take this opportunity.

'...'

The car was inches off my face. One shard of glass had already hit my shoulder blade. It's just... time felt so slow, my body was already thrust back, but my body had yet to send the painful message through my nerves.

Fuck it! It's now or never!

'I want to live in a world where I'm challenged!'

And thus, darkness overcame. To this day, I may or may not uncover the reasons behind my death.

What I will uncover, however, is my future.

My future after death.

Weak, He Proclaims
Prologue
Ripples

"...ow..."

What the hell was this, some cliche opening to some anime?

Dammit, my body hurt! I really just wanted to die right there, since I felt like I just got a face full of death.

In anime, it's not rare for the starting scene to be someone awaking from a dream. In fact, it's probably cliche.

But ah, who was I to compare real life with anime? I just woke up with my body hurting like it just got recently hammered, and the first thing I think of when I wake up is anime?

I have problems.

Oh come on, stop thinking and start doing!

"Ugh!"

Letting out a grunt I really needed to get out of my system, I forcibly pushed myself off the ground and rubbed my eyes. Why'd it feel so warm? It's usually so damned cold in the morning!

I shrugged at my own thoughts. "It must've been the fact that my blanket was on me the whole time, and probably 'cos the heater was on and I wore over four layers of clothing before sleeping."

A sigh escaped my lips. Man, the shit I have to get through in the mornings.

"Let's get these blankets out of the..."

My hands felt nothing.

"..."

I shot up like man getting splashed in cold water two in the morning. What the hell? I only just realised where I was, but this...

It looked like some yellow, plasma-aura dimension. Like, the one from Naruto! The one where he talks to his mum and dad!

It was also really unnerving. Where the hell was my room? Where was my kick-ass, two-inch thick heater that could conveniently save energy and space?

Where were my clothes?

...

...

...

"...have I been naked this whole time?"

I looked down.

"Oh. My. Actually. Fucking. Gosh."

Yeah, because saying OMG was too mainstream.

I cried out in frustration. "Why can I see my dick? I mean, when a guy's meant to wake up in some weird, alternate plasma dimension, shouldn't he at least have his fucking clothes on?!"

Seriously. I don't want to stare at my six pack flabs. I wanted to stare at my messy, messy room the first thing in the morning!

"As I've said before, humans always have interesting moments in terms of reactions as they awake from their deaths... but yours is quite unique, to say the least."

I twirl around, letting my hands go from unconsciously covering my family-making treasures. Alright, I usually act all goofy and stuff when I'm alone, but definitely not in front of random strangers.

And definitely not when I'm naked. Sheesh, just the thought gives me the damned creeps.

Doesn't help it when it's actually happening.

And where was he? I'm not wearing my glasses right now, so it's kind of hard to see anything. I'm surprised I managed to spot the plasma-like objects in the first place.

"You're not meant to see me... you're only meant to listen."

Well, when I get ticked off, it's safe to say I come back with snarky comments. That's close enough to being goofy, right?

"Yeah, sure. I sleep during my classes and wave off my parent's life lessons as if they were the spam emails I get from Yahoo. Worst mistake of my life, signing up to that excuse of a site." I huffed in annoyance. When somebody gives me an evasive response, I give a sarcastic one back. I hate people who can stand up to me in a verbal fight.

"You're a quick thinker... but I've dealt with your kind before. Do you want to know reason to your being here, or do you wish to spend an eternal life in hell?"

Damn, straight to the point. My weakness, but also one of my strong points when I personally use it.

"Finally, we're making some progress!" I shouted back. "I prefer the first option, seeing as someone as bright as you would know any sane guy would pick that one."

Honestly, I just died. It's normal to be paranoid and insane, right?

If not, than I definitely have problems. Again.

The voice seemed to hesitate a bit. Then, it spoke. "...since I am the superior one here, I will proceed to ask a question."

"Go right ahead, see if it tickles my fancy."

I could've sworn I heard a small tsk echo through the scene, but he continued nonetheless. "Why have you not bothered to cover yourself? Have you no shame?"

"I can't, really." I shrugged carelessly, again. "My hands can only cover so much, I don't have any clothes on or near me, and even after all of that you'd still be staring at my ass. That answer your question?"

"...why do you hold little care for you life? I am a rather powerful being, and you are nothing but a gnat in my eyes. The way you speak to me, I despise it. I could erase your-"

"Look, Mr. Voice, here..." I sighed once again. Here goes another explanation of my messed up logic... "I've already died, right? If I'm dead, I should be dancing in the heavens or something like that. But no, I'm not. So I'm enjoying as much bullshit as I can before I get sent to some weird dimension."

"Oh?" I dunno what it was, but the voice sounded amused. And haughty. "And what makes you think that I'll send you to another dimension?"

"I've already read enough Fairy Tail Self-Inserts and Naruto x Fairy Tail crossovers to know where this is going..." I mutter under my breath. Then, I sucked in all I could, and shouted to the ever-absent ceiling.

"Because, dipshit, you're going to send me to another dimension and you're going to grant my dying wish soon, or I will whip your sorry ass six ways to Sunday and back. Y'hear?"

"..." The voice sounded deep in thought. Or, if he had a physical form, we would look as if he was thinking of a comeback.

"Now that I think about it, if I wrote this out on a fanfiction, that line I just said would totally have so many italicised words." I say absent mindedly.

"...why say something so defiant? And interrupt my previous sentences all the same? You have angered me enough, human!"

'Well, shit. In anime and stuff like that, the celestial being or something would never get this mad. Or maybe the problem's just me in general?'

In all honesty, though, I don't care. I never cared for my grades (probably a bad thing now that I think about it) and I didn't care about a lot of things really. It made me seem like a bad person in general, but guess I had good intentions.

And this being saying he was mad? Well, it was his fault that he was mad in the first place.

If it was his fault and not mine, then I. Don't. Care.

"I don't really care if you're angry or not." I shrugged once more. Hopefully, the last time I'll ever shrug in this weird plasma dimension. "It's your fault you're this angry. I'm just being a sorry ass here."

"WHAT?!"

Shit on a stick and call me Fiddlesticks, he could shout.

The voice sounded enraged, if I had to choose the most accurate word. "How DARE you make me my own reason to be angered by your foolishness! I am a HEAVENLY being, mind you! I have the power to make your whole existence a lie!"

I sighed. I really liked sighing. It helped me relieve some stress every now and then.

And oh boy, time for me to speak up for myself again. Hooray! "Let me say something loud and clear; and if you're angry at something, you either chose to be angry or you've let yourself to be angry. If I'm the cause of your anger, sure, go ahead and do what you wanna do. I can't stop you, seeing as I'm the lesser being here. All I'm just saying is that unless you've interfered with my personal matters through your anger..."

I rose my hands.

"I don't care."

For some really, I had a feeling I would use those three words a lot.

I felt the ground shake. The plasma looking dimension started to get out of shape (like it was in a normal shape in the first place) and the air started to get cold.

Then, peace.

...

...

...

It seemed really odd, how he seemed to be really angry in one moment and in the next moment, he wasn't. I've never experienced something like this before... I'm pretty sure many others could say the same thing.

He seemed calm. Peaceful, even. Well, I'm just telling this from the looks of the dimension, but hey. It's better than nothing?

"...I can see the truth behind your foolish words." His reply wasn't expected, but it was welcomed by my impatient self. "I chose to be angered... forgive me, I was foolish."

"You like the word 'foolish' a lot." I stated, before a grinned slipped to my face as I placed my hands on my hips. "And seeing as you're a some ascential being or whatnot, you must be old. At least you've got some understanding of my situation."

"Quiet, you." Another tsk was heard. Man, this guy was still annoyed. It was really obvious. "I have yet to believe words coming from a human being, but you spoke from your heart. As your reward, I will explain your reason for being here."

"..." I'm not a dick to nice people, that's for sure. If he's being a dick, then I'll be a dick. But if Mr. Voice here's being all nice, then I'll start to act with a little more maturity. "...sure. An explanation would be nice. Please."

I quickly added the last part. I could act mature, but I sure as hell wasn't good with my manners.

Without further ado, the voice continued. "This place is, obviously, a place in time torn through the middle of Life and Death, from any dimension, often called the Purgatory."

'Honestly, I imagined Purgatory to be a little more chilled. Comfy seats and all, awaiting for your judgement, that kind of thing?' I yawned internally just to that heavenly guy couldn't tell I was tired from all this. 'Maybe even a couple of dirty mags to keep me excited? I mean, I'm a guy going through puberty after all.'

"Purgatory isn't what many others believe it to be, as I have already explained what it is exactly." His explanation was really well done, I'll give him that. "Very few people have been given this opportunity to speak with ancestral beings and to talk about their lives. Out of over the one hundred billion people to ever walk on the face of this earth, you are one of 1000."

"...Holy shit..." I mutter. "That's... less than one-hundreth of a single percent. Waaaaay less than that."

"A reminder that you being here wasn't by chance." The voice responded, his reasonings firm and solid. "You were chosen out of all these mortals by the hands of the High themselves."

"The High?" I say. My lips soon turned into an uncontrollable smirk. "A bunch of heavenly beings constantly smoking weed or something?"

"Take this seriously." He demanded. I kept my mouth shut.

Trust me. That was a pretty good joke, though.

"As I was saying..." He made sure I wasn't going to say anything snarky, before he continued. "The High have spoken. Your wish has been granted. A world where you want to be challenged? To be whisked away from your boring reality, to venture into dimensions that you thought were impossible to step foot into? It has been granted."

It... probably took more than just a few seconds to register what he had actually said. "...wait, what? When I said you were going to send me to some other dimension, I was just joking and being insane, y'know-"

"I realise that." Oh, the bastard had a smirk on. I couldn't see it, but he just had one. "But I wasn't."

'Oh... fuck.'

"Goodbye, mortal, 'Till we meet again."

"Wai-!"

I simply lay in the field of darkness, awaiting for your response...
...forever, I will wait.
...
Until forever has run out.

Ripples
===I===

"..."

I sigh.

"Not one, but two cliche anime openings. Is this even real?"

And it was dark. Did I turn off the lights? Or did mum do that? Or dad, maybe?

"Oh, fuck it." I, once again, push myself off the ground and I, once again, let a grunt out that probably should've been let out a long time ago. "Let's go and see what the time is-"

I felt a snapping noise explode underneath my palms.

"GAH!"

I quickly shot up, once again, and I twirl around, once again, as I-

My goodness, this is happening a lot like my dream, huh?

...

...

...

Wait.

I stare at the thing -a twig- that had just been snapped in half. It was laying on top of some grass.

...

I slowly look up and see the grass being surrounded by multiple bushes.

...

I follow the bushes, robotically shifting my head to the right until it meets a tree surrounded by said bushes.

...

Huh, well, there's a lot of trees and all...

...

I drop my head and shoulders. "I'm in a forest, huh?"

Yep. Just my luck.

Wait. Wait, wait wait wai. This could be another dream, right?

Right! For all we know, I could've woken up from a dream just to be placed into another! That makes sense.

This must've been a lucid one too. I'm dressed, it's warm, it's really dark and I'm in a forest.

A lot more sense than my other dream, that's for sure. Good to know I'm not mentally challenged yet.

Well. Since I'm stuck in the middle of the forest in the middle for the night, what do we do?

"We explore!"

...

"...no, we don't." I grumble. "Seeing as this is somewhat of a survival scenario, we have to act like it. Make a branch-tent or something, make a fire, cut some trees down with a conveniently placed axe..."

Wait. If this was a lucid dream right, I don't feel pain.

If I was about to get hit, or felt like I was falling, I'd wake up. I must be right. Hopefully.

My eyes slowly averted to the seemingly dirty ground. How I managed to see the ground considering that it's dark and we're in a forest, I don't know. All I know is that...

...I'm going to have to make myself fall to wake myself up.

"Oh my goodness, the things I have to do." I awkwardly sigh as I proceeded to climb a nearby, low hanging tree. I've done it before, so it's not that hard.

After reaching the near top (which was admittedly not that far), I let out another long sigh filled with regret as I looked at my target; the cold, hard ground.

"Here goes nothing!"

I jump and proceeded to belly flop into the grass.

...

...

'That...'

"THAT FUCKING HUUUUUUURT!"

One thing's clear: I am not in a damned lucid dream!

"Ow, ow ow ow ow ow!" I clenched my stomach hard. I didn't eat any breakfast either, so it any added to the already existent pain! "Y-You're kidding me... that hurt like hell!"

At least when I have kids, I can tell them that I belly flopped off a fucking tree of all things.

Definitely something I'm absolutely looking forward to.

"Ah... s-shit!" I cough a bit before I start to slowly stand back up again, my hands shakily supporting my pathetic excuse of a body. At least there's no blood, not in a small injury like that. "Y'know what? Fuck that! I ain't jumping off a tree ever again!"

A few grunts and yelps of pain later, I finally managed to stand back up once more with one hand supporting my stomach and the other clenching my nose. I think I broke it, dammit. The first bone to break, and all thanks to me belly flopping off a tree.

So much fuuuuuun.

"Let's just explore." My voice sounded pretty weird, since I was clenching my nose. Understandable. "It's warm, and my clothes are surprisingly comfy. I can't be bothered wondering what exactly these clothes are."

With a small huff of annoyance, I wandered into the unknown. Who knows, maybe I'll even find someone randomly trekking through the woods out or pure curiosity?

"...let's not jinx possible events and just go with the flow." I muttered, a bead of sweat rolling down my chin.

Ripples
===II===

Porlyusica was a woman - not a human, mind you, but a woman. Being an especially old one (something she's stopped denying from long ago), she had her hobbies and a one of her few interests was to wander around the forest.

In her thoughts as she wandered around the forest, she's always wonder and think if she would find something unique. Something out of the norm, something that wasn't just one of her healing ingredients or just a patch of green blobs. Which was why she searched, and searched.

It was also a reason why she knew quite a bit; a lot of people would whisper their secrets in this seemingly lonely forest, and the pink-headed woman would always get caught in the middle of it. She'd inform Makarov if it was something personal, and the whole problem would be dealt with a quick swipe of destruction. Courtesy to Fairy Tail, of course.

She still hated humans, nonetheless. She'd only help her friend Makarov because, as previously mentioned, they were friends. She had barely any, and even she knew that barely anybody could go on with their lives without support of a close one.

Porlyusica could smell the stench, however. The smell of humans... while it disgusted her, this stench was tweaked with a little twist of something... heavenly, if she had to say so herself. he was curious, so she followed her instincts and walked straight towards her newfound target.

To her surprised, her next destination was a moving one. A walking one, and a rather noisy one.

"Dammit! I still can't get over the fact that this isn't a dream. Is this an actual fucking tree?"

It took all her might for the healer to not yell out and berate the young-sounding man for his language. This was also partially the reason why she hated humans. Their love for war, and their love for foul things.

*thonk*

"Ow. Alright, it actually is a tree. Note to self - try not to hit your head against every single thing you see. Gotcha."

From the sounds of it, Porlyusica deducted that this man was one with a low IQ.

She stopped her walking as the man emerged from the bushes. Her eyes studied the human being, and if she had to say anything about his appearance, it would be...

...odd.

She realised the man blinking owlishly as his own eyes scanned the woman herself. She saw confusion in his eyes, then...

...recognition?

"Oh! Uh..." The uniquely dressed man coughed into his hand, flustered. As he tried to find words to say, Porlyusica took the time to study the man's attire.

He seemed to be wearing a white, long-sleeved shirt that had button all the way from the bottom to the very collar, the top buttons done so themselves. It also had a 'stylish' pocket sewed on his left side of his chest. Black jeans covered his legs (not too tightly however), his bottom part finished with somewhat odd looking checkered-like shoes, of silver and black with white soles. He also wore black, fingerless gloves that fit well with his pants.

But what caught her attention the most was his cloak.

While it was dark, it was obvious both his pants and cloak were black, seeing as they blended extremely well with the dark. His cloak reached to his ankles. It consisted of a hood with white cotton strings hanging from the sides of the hood. Long, black sleeves covered the man's arms as they seemed to be a bit too big, the ends of the sleeves hanging from the man's wrists.

Porlyusica studied his attire once more before she looked upwards. She saw that the man was looking at her with a small amount of confusion, but also with something she hasn't seen in quite a while - anticipation.

She guessed this was her time to speak to the man.

And speak, she did.

"Who are you?"

Ripples
===III===

"Who are you?"

To be fair, if someone walked into me and stared at me for a while, I'd ask the same thing too.

Or maybe, 'The fuck you looking at, huh?'. But you get the idea.

Well, I've got a few options; I could either try and run away, evade the question, or simply tell her everything that's happened.

Huh, feels like a Pokemon game. The ones above don't look viable, so I'll go with my famous one; ask one back.

"Well..." I shrugged. "That all depends. Who're you?"

That didn't work as well as I expected, but it'll have to do. And did I stutter a bit? Damn.

"I asked the question first, young man."

Ouch. The look she gave me wasn't helping the burn either.

Well, shit. She's older than me, so it was to be expected that she'd be a much more smoother talker than me.

Still, I want to try and test her limits. And besides, just telling her that 'Hey, I kinda just appeared in the middle of your forest and wondered if you could heal me' wouldn't work.

Yeah, she's the famous Porlyusica woman, the healer, I know.

How she's here? I have no fucking clue. Why she's here? I have no idea.

Anything to do with her?

I have absolutely, positively no damned clue.

"Let's say this; I'm a lone man." I reply, making sure my voice was low. Madara Uchiha low. Damn straight. It was ironic, considering I could imitate his voice and I had the same birthday as him. Plus, he's a badass, so that counts too. "And now, my answer I've been waiting for please."

"..." The woman hesitates, before she answers. "I'm a lone woman."

'Damn. Two people can play that game, woman. Two people can play that game.'

"...is this area yours?" My question aimed at her was slow, and intentionally obvious at what the meaning was. I wanted to know; was I treading in her territory? Or was I not?

Hey, I can be smart when I want to.

"Yes."

'She's quick to answer.' I cough into my hand once more before I bring in my final blows. "Oh, forgive me. I simply had no idea this area was yours, and..."

...

"And?" The woman had her eyebrow raised. "I'm waiting."

Shit, first mistake.

When you're talking with someone, you usually have to be prepared on what you're about to say. To talk smoothly and without flaw is a key trick in surviving in an unknown place, and that's something I've been trying to do for a while. If there's hesitation, there's a pause. When there's a pause, there's an opening. And where's there's an opening, she'll strike.

I have to recover quickly, or she'll take advantage.

"I need-"

The pain.

Ugh, it hurt so much! I felt the pain course through my body as it had just been hit by a car.

Why did it feel so familiar?!

My body tensed, my mouth spewing blood. Fuck, it's like a delayed reaction of that car crash!

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

I couldn't reply; my mouth being full of blood and all, it was hard to concentrate on what she was trying to say!

My shoulder blade cracked, my legs gave way. I felt my eyes roll painfully up as my eyelids closed in overwhelming pressure of extreme pain.

It happened so fast, I couldn't even think straight. My only thoughts were this.

'I-I'm... I'm completely at her mercy now...'

Ripples
===End===

Author's Note: Well... definitely not the best Self Insert fanfic out there, but my first one!

In this story, if I could describe it, it's a hardcore self-insert; everything about me here it 100% true, I don't gain any powers, there's only going to be possibly two OC's (three if you add me) in the whole story line, from start to finish. How am I going to act in all of this chaos?

And also, just to add a note that I'm trying to write this story out so that I'm acting as realistically as possible. Of course, you could call bullshit seeing as I argued with a heavenly being, but hey, I was going insane. It was going to happen eventually.

Give me feedback, pleeeeaaaase! I hate begging and all (you can kinda tell in the fanfic) but I really want to know how I did! PM or review, it doesn't matter~

I'm just worried that maybe I'm adding too much of my own thoughts in this fic. I've seen a few Self Insert fanfics and some have themselves say a lot of stuff and put there thoughts into the fanfic and needless to say, it impressed. Maybe I'm overdoing it? I'll never know unless you help me .-.

Thanks for reading! You should check out my other stories too, y'know. Just to get some shameless self-advertising out of the way :D

Not-aThinker, over and out.