UPDATE: Holy crap I can't believe I already messed up in posting this. I forgot to describe something kind of important. It's fixed now but still...
Yes, I am still alive. I know the news is shocking but I do have a life that tends to take up most of my time.
I've had practically no free time to do anything writing-related with how drastically my life changed. I now work about 60 hours a week so I won't have a lot of time for writing but I'll write as much as I can whenever I have the time. Or whenever the inspiration strikes. Whichever comes first. lol
Anyway, my point is to not expect frequent updates. I just don't have the time for it. I'll try to respond to reviews and messages as fast as I can but I might be a day or two delayed.
For those that haven't read my profile this is the rewrite of a fanfic I attempted to write a few years ago I for some reason named "Wings of Light and a Secret Promise". After getting back into Tales of Symphonia and looking back at the fic I decided the plot I had in mind and my overall writing style back then was beyond horrid and needed to be fixed BADLY. It's still a self-insert fanfic so if you don't like those kinds of fics I suggest not reading this. I know self-inserts are (in my opinion at least) somewhat Mary Sue-ish by default but that's what I wanted to write. I write for fun and that's how my imagination works. lol
Just as a heads-up there WILL be coarse language and suggestive themes. That's why this fic is rated "M".
I don't own Tales of Symphonia or any of its characters. That's why this is a FAN FICTION. Honestly I don't even know why I'm typing this since it didn't really need saying. Old habits die hard, I guess.
The sudden dizziness and nausea overwhelmed me. I knew I had a lot to drink earlier but I shouldn't have felt so sick. My vision became so blurry I could no longer force my eyes to stay open. My head refused to stay still as I tried to grasp at least some portion of reality. The spinning sensation steadily grew worse and worse. As I lost consciousness I swore I heard several voices murmuring around me.
I woke up what felt like a few seconds later feeling completely refreshed. As I struggled to sit up I felt that something didn't seem right but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
"Lauren!" a familiar voice shouted in excitement.
My head automatically snapped in the direction of the hyperactive voice. I couldn't begin to describe how shocked I was to see Kevin kneeling next to me. Back in high school we were really good friends that hung out almost constantly. Unfortunately we pretty much lost touch when he graduated high school two years before me. We hadn't even seen each other in that long since I ended up moving to the next state over. The outfit he was wearing confused me even more.
White trim ran along the edges of his brown leather jacket and merged into the completely white lapels. The matching sleeve cuffs had a single golden button in each one. Underneath the jacket Kevin wore a white T-shirt with a dark green design on his chest that I instantly recognized as a save point from Tales of Symphonia. His dark pants were tucked into the tops of leather ankle boots with steel toes. The pants looked like they were made out of some kind of denim but just from looks I couldn't be sure.
In addition to the outfit his hair looked vastly different from how it was the last time I saw him face-to-face. He somehow managed to get his hair to spike up perfectly in the back almost like a duck's tail and his long bangs were neatly parted to the left. The tips were a dark shade of dirty blond and a single bold streak of stood out among his naturally pale dirty blonde hair.
Every detail of Kevin's outfit was exactly how I designed it but to my knowledge he never made the design into an actual outfit.
"It took you long enough to wake up!" he said in his usual hyperactive attitude.
"What are you doing here?" I asked in confusion. "Did Steve invite you over and not tell me or something?"
"Your guess is a tad off," Kevin said as he squeezed two fingers together on one hand.
As Kevin finished his sentence a warm breeze blew around me.
Thanks to the breeze I also realized I wasn't in my bed; I wasn't even in my house. Kevin and I were in the middle of an enormous grassy field. In one direction a mountain range stretched far out of my line of vision. In the other direction I saw what looked like a cluster of trees but they were so far away I wasn't positive that's what they were. The only indication I had that they were trees were the dark shades of green instead of pale shades like the grass around me.
"Where are we?" I asked as I put my hand down to push myself to my feet.
As I looked down at my feet I realized the scenery wasn't the only thing that changed while I was out. My Hakuna Matata nightshirt somehow got replaced by an outfit that only existed in my sketchbook. My body was covered in a pair of tight dark green pants and a long-sleeved jacket that perfectly ended at my hips. Dull green stripes bordered the edges of my jacket and made a shape around my stomach that somewhat resembled a corset. The corset-shaped section was a very deep emerald green while the rest of the dress was a standard green. Ankle boots with baggy tops that folded over themselves the same color as the dress's main color somehow managed to appear on my feet. I twisted my body to get a glimpse of the back and saw dark green swallowtail flaps that were also part of my design.
"Where the hell did this come from?" I asked Kevin as I continued to examine myself. "I didn't get a chance to make this outfit yet let alone color it in Photoshop…"
"Either way it looks really good on you, Auntie," Kevin complimented with a big smile.
"It does," I said happily. Hearing my old nickname made me feel even better. "It makes my tits look awesome. I wonder if I'm wearing a cool shirt t—"
I lost my voice the second I unzipped my jacket. I tried to breathe but my lungs refused to work as I stared at the exposed skin. A blue stone I instantly recognized as an Exsphere was attached to the middle of my chest…without a Key Crest. I couldn't stop staring at the hideously scarred skin that grotesquely bulged around the edge of the glimmering stone. With how many times I played through Tales of Symphonia I knew how dangerous an Exsphere without a Key Crest was.
The realization of my situation hit me all at once. Kevin and I somehow ended up in Tales of Symphonia in the middle of nowhere, we had no supplies, and on top of that I had an Exsphere without a Key Crest. Visions of being mutated into a horrid monster burned itself into my mind over and over again. I collapsed to the ground and reflexively curled up into a ball. I didn't take bad news for anything very well so a panic attack from what I just discovered wouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone that knows me well enough.
"This can't be happening…" I muttered. "This is just a dream… This can't be real… This is impossible…"
"Calm down, Auntie," Kevin said soothingly as he put a hand on my back. "Just try to breathe normally."
"I can't…!"
After a few more minutes of hyperventilating as Kevin rubbed my back I started to feel better. I forced my mind to suppress the depressing thoughts and struggled to stand up. Sparkling black specks clouded my vision as I stretched my arms over my head. As the spots cleared off in the distance I noticed something long and thin sticking up through the clouds. The longer I stared at the skinny thing the faster the wheels in my head began to turn.
Wait…if we're in Tales of Symphonia… I thought as my head tilted to the side.
"The Tower of Salvation!" I realized as my eyes widened. I faced Kevin as he stood. "Do you think we're in Sylvarant or Tethe'alla?"
"I don't know," Kevin replied honestly. "I don't see any major landmarks from either world other than the Tower of Salvation."
"Where should we go then?" I asked with worry. "In either world the tower isn't anywhere close to a town…I think. It's been a while since I played."
"Me too," Kevin admitted. "I've been hooked on Legend of Zelda for a while."
"Oh yeah? Which one?"
"Skyward Sword."
"I have a copy but I haven't played it yet. How is—ah! Focus, Lauren! We need to get to a town or something. I just wish I knew how far away from the tower we are…"
"Ah, we'll be fine! We just need to figure out which way to go. I'm pretty sure there's a town to the north, east, and west of both towers. We just need to figure out where we are in comparison to the tower so that we can start walking to the closest town."
"How are we gonna figure that out? I don't know about you but I can't exactly pull a compass out of my ass."
"Don't worry, Auntie! I'll use my special camping abilities!"
"…You've gone camping before?"
"Of course I have!" Kevin looked at the area around us, the Tower of Salvation, and then our surroundings again. He smiled and pointed in one direction. "We're going this way!"
Kevin started walking away without me as he hummed a cheerful tune. I sighed before I jogged to catch up with him.
What else could I say in that situation? It's not like I could act like I hadn't seen him in forever. Plus I was never really great at starting conversations.
"Right?" Kevin asked with a laugh. Suddenly his eyes widened slightly. "Oh! I almost forgot! Check this out!"
As we walked Kevin yanked the collar of his T-shirt down. Mounted on the center of his chest was a blood red stone combined with a golden Key Crest. The strip of foreign material wound its way around the stone, trailed to the left of the parasitic stone, and curved back to the right with a short curl at the end. A small decorative triangle rested on Kevin's skin in the center of where the Key Crest curved to the right.
To be honest I felt happy for him but at the same time I was jealous as hell.
"…That's total bullshit," I said without hesitation.
Kevin shrugged yet again as he let go of his shirt. "Sorry, Auntie. I guess I just got lucky."
That's still total bullshit… I thought jealously.
"Before I forget we need to get our story straight for whenever we meet up with Lloyd and the others," I said in a firm tone. "If we're gonna have any chance of finding out how we got here I'd say sticking with Lloyd and the others is going to be our best shot."
"Plus we need to be stereotypical like that," Kevin added with a smile.
"Seriously, we need to think of something believable," I said before we could go off-topic again. "If both of us had Exspheres we could just say that we lived in some random town then decided to explore, but no…you just had to have a Cruxis Crystal didn't you?"
"I know…it's all my fault," Kevin sighed in an overly dramatic tone.
"At least you admit it. Anyway, let's start brainstorming."
Kevin's blue eyes widened suddenly. "Wait…I just realized something."
"What is it?" I asked.
"This might actually be an Exsphere and not a Cruxis Crystal!" Kevin exclaimed as he pointed at his chest.
My shoulders slumped as I frowned at him.
"No it can't," I argued. "Cruxis Crystals are only red. Just look at Zelos and Colette. Both of theirs were red."
"No they weren't! Zelos' was green!"
"The hell it was! You always see it as red!"
"That's his Exsphere you always see. In one of the skits someone asks him why he never wears his Cruxis Crystal and he explains that since the world isn't in decline he doesn't need it."
My eyes widened as well.
"That's right! He has Seles hold onto it, right?"
"Yeah! Later on in the game when Zelos gets his Cruxis Crystal the Exsphere on his chest turns green."
"That's right! I remember now! I can't believe I forgot about that…"
"Oh, Auntie…" Kevin muttered as he shook his head.
During the entire walk Kevin and I struggled to come up with a solid background story that didn't have any holes or contradictions. Our initial plan was to say we were from Tethe'alla in order to explain our knowledge of machine, Exspheres, and such. Unfortunately the major flaw with that plan was us not knowing anything about Tethe'alla's history political leaders, or anything like that. Eventually we gave up on a cover story and settled for telling the truth—excluding this universe being a video game where we're from. We figured it'd be best to leave that part out.
Eventually we made it to a wide dirt path we dubbed the main road. I occasionally looked up at the sky as we walked and noticed how low the sun was getting. Soon the sun would set completely leaving us only in moonlight. On top of that Kevin and I were beyond starving. Unfortunately we had no food or weapons to even try to hunt. Thankfully we were almost at a cluster of trees just off the main road so we agreed to call it a night once we got there.
As we relaxed our throbbing feet we discussed various ideas on what we should do once we got to a city. We decided our first priority was to see where we were in the timeline. Hopefully Colette already started the Journey of World Regeneration so it'd be easier to figure out how to find her group. If we were in Sylvarant we figured finding her would be a lot easier since she was that world's Chosen. If we were in Tethe'alla and figured out they hadn't shown up yet we would stay put in Meltokio until they decided to show up.
Kevin joked around about how while we were there he could seduce Zelos to convince him to let us stay at his place for a while. He was convinced that his awesomeness would magically make Zelos interested in guys. I knew he was mostly joking but it would be funny as hell to see him hit on Zelos.
Anyway, as we caught up on life the subject wandered off to our current jobs. I told him about the most recent "fun customer" I had at the shop where I worked. A tall man I assumed was at least in his thirties tried starting a fight with twenty-one year old, ninety-pound me because I wouldn't buy his ancient box TV. I tried being polite even when he started screaming at me from the other side of the counter. The second a threat against me came out of his mouth I walked around the counter, got in his face, and told him he had ten seconds to get out of the store before I called the cops on him.
My fiery reaction to the man's temper tantrum caught him so off guard he was actually speechless for a minute before he decided his TV wasn't worth punching a "little girl" in the face. In any other job my reaction would have gotten me fired even though the customer was totally in the wrong. However, I worked at what was essentially a pawn shop. A store like that is known to occasionally attract people with attitude problems. Things ran a tad differently in a store and area like that so I could actually get away with firing back at the guy. After working with people like that almost every day for the last three years I learned a long time ago not to show any hint of fear no matter how intimidated you were or the other person would walk all over you.
In a way that helped me at least somewhat mentally prepare for whatever was going to happen to me. In the grand scheme of things it didn't mean much but something was better than nothing.
As I stared up at the unfamiliar constellations I wished my husband Steve was with me. We were always together since we lived and worked together but now I was literally a world away. I needed his comfort and in addition to that Kevin and I could use his street smarts. We definitely would have had a better shot at surviving if he was with us.
Unfortunately life didn't work out that way. Kevin and I were at the mercy of a monster-infested world we only experienced on a TV screen, we had no food, and we couldn't defend ourselves. I felt so terrified I was gonna be eaten by a giant purple bear that I barely slept. Even when I did get some sleep it was only for what felt like minutes at a time.
Our journey was off to a great start.
I know the prologue wasn't long but that's why it's called a prologue not a chapter.
Reviews to point out any kind of mistake or to give your overall opinion are always appreciated.