BRE17: Hello minna-san! I decided to rewrite this story, due to it not getting many reviews, and another fact that it's too mary-sue appearently. I'm sorry once it again that it took me so long, but things have been crazy. Oh, and just for the record? I HATE MEN.

Please enjoy the story and review!

Chapter One– So It Begins

Darkness... nothing but darkness...

Shadows blacker then night completely surrounded me, rendering me helpless of moving anywhere; I watched with slight fear as the black mist slowly

but steadily crept and slid up my legs. " No.. No!" I whispered, eyes widening in horror. The darkness started to reach my thighs, then it covered my waist and lower stomach;

Within seconds, the terrifying darkness had blanketed almost have my body, and I was beginning to lose hope as a wicked laugh echoed around me, dark and sinister.

' That's right, just give in..' The voice cooed, sounding so close it was if someone was standing right behind me, talking into my ear.

' Let it embrace you...' For a split second, I actually considered just letting go, to sleep forever without anymore pain. But then I thought of everyone else, my mother, my sister and brothers, my father, and my friends..

I couldn't just leave them all behind!

Gathering up my strength, I pulled against my shadowy bonds as hard as I could muster, eventually tearing through them and freeing myself.

Wanting to distance myself from the haunting voice, I sped off further into the dark abyss. But I didn't get as far as I wanted when the dark tendrils grabbed me again;

As I struggled to desperately free myself, I felt something cold and sharp poke at my stomach and looked up to see a figure holding a sword in front of me as I was forced down to my knees by the darkness.

Again, I heard the voice against my ear the same time the dangerous weapon rammed it's way through my navel.

Game over.

The birds were already singing their own individual melody by the time the sun had begun to make it's entrance early in the morning; painting the skyline in a gorgeous display of light blue streaked with pink.

In a quiet neighborhood of Gresham, one of it's younger citizens was beginning to stir.

A young woman roughly around her late-teens laid spiraled in her lilac colored bed, a mass of red-golden hair barely sticking out from underneath the covers.

Sunlight began to shimmer faintly through the barrier of cloth that was her curtains, dimly lighting up the small room while the clock beside her bed buzzed softly.

Suddenly, the cell-phone resting on the girl's night stand, singing loudly and cheerful while vibrating so hard that it was moving towards the edge of the surface it was laying on.

A slim hand shot out from under the mess of blankets and grasped the small machine with long, tanned fingers. No longer on the verge of falling to the floor below. A head emerged from the sea of purple cloth, her hair all frizzled and matted.

Yawning, the young girl flipped the phone open and pressed a few buttons before setting it down again and turned onto her back, rubbing her face with the back of her hand.

(1st POV)

At first I just laid there, waiting for my brain to wake up and for my mind to clear before I did anything. Who am I?

My name is Beverly, Beverly Evans. But most of my family and friends call me Bev.

I watched the birds fly by with sleepy eyes, noting the dreary weather. ' Rain again?' My mind grumbled. ' Isn't it supposed to be summer?' Not that summer's heat was the most comfortable, but I personally was starting to get sick of this gloomy weather.

I pulled myself into a sitting position and expelled a large yawn, causing the tiny feline at my feet to twitch her ears. I smiled at the animal's cuteness before swinging my legs over the edge of the bed and stood up.

Want to know why I was getting up so early in the morning on a summer day? Sadly, I have summer classes to go to. But on the bright side, it only last's for three weeks.

After I had taken a warm thirty minute shower and changed into a fresh set of clothes, which consisted of a light-blue colored jeans, and a black-shirt with a grey-jacket over it, I found myself upstairs in the living room sitting on the love-seat while eating a pop-tart.

"..According to today's forecast, today is going to be cloudy with a light chance of rain–"

I swallowed my mouthful of food and scowled over at the Tv screen as if it had just insulted me.

' Knew it...'

Finished with my food, I rose to my feet and quietly walked into the kitchen to dump the leftovers in the garbage. I glanced at the clock on the stove out of habit as I placed my dish in the sink.

' 7:21..' I mused. ' Not quite time, but good enough.'

I made my way back into the living roomand plopped down on the small couch, leaning down to slip on my shoes and tie them neatly so I wouldn't trip and fall on my way to school. I had a knack for doing that since I was young.

Scooping up my summer backpack, a small one that I usually used to carry books from and to the library, I swung it over my shoulder and slipped my arms through the straps.

I moved across the carpet and towards the entertainment center, switching off the TV before opening the front door. I stepped through the doorway, stopping for a short moment to glance over my shoulder at the quiet living room, and smiled.

' See you later, guys..' I thought warmly, referring to my still sleeping family. Then I closed the door firmly behind me. I made sure the front door was locked, then I stepped off the porch and inhaled deeply, taking in the fresh air of the early morning.

The green vegetation which had yet to wilt and stiffen glittered with the morning due, giving it a pretty picture that it was glass instead of the real thing.

I shouldered my bag more firmly before I began to walk briskly off my home's property and up the road of my small, quiet neighborhood. I passed some houses where a few people were getting ready to go off as well, while the rest of them were silent. Indicating the people inside were still sleeping.

By the time I had made it to the busy main road, the sun had strengthened it's light and warmed up the chilly air. ' I guess the newscast was wrong after all..' I thought with a sense of satisfaction.

A loud hum brought me back to the real world. I focused my attention in front of me in time to see something yellow fly past me at a pretty fast speed.

" Huh? What was that?" I wondered aloud, scratching my head. " Oh well. Probably just really big bug or something.." I started to move foreword again, intent on getting to school in time. But I had walked no more then half a foot when I heard the buzzing again.

I halted for a second time. Just as I looked to me left where the park laid below me, I managed to catch sight of the yellow blur heading right towards me. A small gasp of surprise left my mouth; and instinctively I raised my arm and smacked whatever charged at me as hard as I could.

I cracked an eye open when I hard the humming continue. Right in front of me, was the largest bee I had ever seen in my life. It was almost as big as my almost one year-old kitten, Zoe for crying out loud!

" Holy shit..!" I gaped, staring at my huge bug assailant with wide and disbelieving eyes. Unfortunately for me, my mind had not yet registered the danger. The hornet recovered from it's temporary dizzy spell and focused it's attention on it's prey once more.

Making an angry buzz sound, it charged at me yet again at a fast speed. I crossed my arms in front of my face in a effort to protect myself, yet also ready to whack it away from me. Hopefully killing it this time.

I waited a second to long, though. The moment I swung my arm was at the exact same second I felt a extreme sharp pain stab through my hand just as I made contact with the creature. It fell to the ground, stunned from the hard blow I had given it.

I breathed in and out heavily, as if I had just ran the spring mile run all over again. Damn insect.

It buzzed and flailed around on the hard concrete, desperately attempting to get back into the air again. I brought my foot to it's level and kicked it as best as I could into the park below me. It ended up landing into the bushes just above the playground with a small rustle.

After managing to get my breathing under control to small pants, I lifted my hand so that it was eye level with my face. The normally tan skin of my hand was now red from making contact with the irritated hornet, and was sensitive to the touch, but it had yet to begin swelling.

I glanced at my watch that adorned the same hand. " Damn it all!" I cursed out loud, dropping my hand and sprinting across the street. ' I'm going to be late if I don't hurry!'

Thankfully I had made it just in time with at least five minutes to spare. A friend of mine by the name of Kitty had been waiting for me in the main lobby. She cast me a weird look at the sight of my profile, but before I had a chance to explain, Mr. Barry, one of the teachers in charge of the summer program, came out of nowhere and shooed us and the rest of the students off to class.

BREAK-TIME, SCIENCE ROOM; 10:21 AM

I leaned back in my chair while stretching out my stiff muscles, letting out a yawn as the students around me gathered up their things and left the classroom, heading towards their next lesson. Kitty, as well as I, had science again. But we sat at the back of the class during the second period, working on alternate assignments.

I gave my arms a final stretch and lowered them down onto the desk again, wincing and biting the inside of my cheek to refrain from whimpering when my left hand throbbed horribly for the hundredth time that morning.

The huge hornet had managed to nail me after all. Halfway through the first period my hand had begun to hurt and sting like crazy, making it nearly impossible to write without making it worse.

" Hey, Bev."

I pulled my mind away from my thoughts and turned my attention to the girl in front of me, looking up at my younger friend in question.

The fifteen year old plopped down in her seat next to me with a grunt, raking a hand through her short dark hair.

" Do you mind coming with me to a vending machine?" She asked, sounding a bit hesitant. " I.. Don't want to get lost on the way back.."

Ah, before Kitty had transferred Spring Water High, she had attended Barlow, a rival school of Gresham. So it was only natural she didn't really know her way around her.

I coughed behind my hand in order to hide the small grin that appeared on my face and looked to the side. " Sure. But let's hurry, class will start in ten minutes."

The brunette nodded in agreement and stood up from her chair. I followed suit and trailed after her as the younger girl exited the classroom and hurried down the hallway. I gently took a hold of her arm and steered her out one of the doors, leading her into another entrance before walking down that hall as well.

Just as we passed the attendance window, Kitty surprised me by grabbing my arm instead and pulled me into a smaller room. We came to a halt in front of a heavy-set blue painted door that I had yet to recognize. The younger teen rapped on the door a few times with her knuckle before standing back to wait.

" Come in."

Accepting the invitation, Kitty twisted the door knob and pulled open the wooden barrier. Curious to wear this was leading, I leaned around my best friend to see who was in the room.

" Ms. Wells!" I gasped, startled to see my old school nurse. Ms. Wells was a petite woman like my mother, with shoulder length pale hair and kind brown eyes behind her frames that she usually wore during her work-hours.

" Oh, hello Bev!" The nurse greeted me warmly, smiling at Kitty and I. " It's been awhile. Come in, come in!"

Not wanting to be rude, I did just that. Stepping into the room after the other girl.

" Ms. Wells, right?" Kitty questioned. The woman nodded her head, prompting Kitty to continue. " Could you take a look a Bev's hand? I think something's wrong with it."

I snapped my head in the brunette's direction, eyes wide with disbelief. So this was what she was planning to do, the little sneak!

Yet I did not protest as Ms. Wells gently took a hold of my sensitive hand, carefully examining it with expert eyes.

" What on earth did you do to your poor hand?" She exclaimed in concern, loosening her grip slightly so she could roll back in her chair and slid open a drawer in her desk, where she kept most of her disinfect medicine.

" It look's like you got into a fight with a stone wall." Kitty muttered with a light snicker, earning a small glare in her direction.

" Eh.. Not exactly." I huffed, plopping down in a sit next to the desk. " I just had the misfortune of running into a very unhappy hornet." Then I continued to explain what had happened in those few short minutes with my encounter with the angry insect.

" I'll say." Ms. Wells sighed, releasing my hand so she was free to pour she disinfect medicine on a clean cotton ball. She then proceeded to press it to my injured limb, ignoring my hiss of pain and protest.

" Damn..." Kitty whistled, after getting a good look at the mangled hand. " Now I'm really afraid of bees."

After making sure she had throughly cleaned the puncture wound, Ms. Wells pulled a roll of soft-looking bandages from another drawer and began to wrap them around my swollen hand. Careful not to irritate the injury more.

" Now, I want you to have Anne take a look at this when you get home." The older woman instructed while cleaning up what little mess she made. " And if your feeling the slightest bit woozy later, tell your mother immediately, understood?"

I withheld a groan, muttering my constant instead to appease the woman. All the while Kitty was snickering behind me. She probably though it was funny how I was getting scolded like a child.

AT HOME, BEDROOM 6:15 PM

I rubbed the back of my eyes tired with my uninjured hand, having to have just woken up from a nap. Man, gotta love those. They did just the trick to get rid of most of my headaches. Just as I swung my legs over the edge of my bed, my bedroom door burst open and a pretty brunette a few years older then her came running in, heading over to her dresser which was right next to my bed.

" Good, your up." My older sister, Amanda, said distractly as she rummaged through her top drawer for something to pull her hair up with.

" Mom and I are leaving with the boys. What time is Sammy coming?" I pushed myself to my feet and stiffled another yawn behind my hand as I shuffled past her and picked up a light blue brush.

" Soon. I think she said some time between 6:00 and 7:00." I repiled while running the brush through my matted bed-hair in attempt to fix it. " Even if she comes late, or not at all, it doesn't matter Mandy. I've stayed home numerous times before now."

My elder sister paused slightly before resuming pulling her short hair into a ponytail, a faint frown on her face. " I know, Bevie. But dangerous creeps have been appearing around lately. I would feel better knowing you had someone with you, Mom would agree with me."

I made a face at Amanda and turned my back to her and swept my now smooth and untangled hair ever my shoulder, causing it to tumble to a stop at my waist.

Behind me, I heard the older girl sigh, seconds later a hand gripped my shoulder and turned me around to face her.

" Listen, Beverly." Amanda said gently, yet her hazel eyes had a serious look to them. " I know, Mom know's, that your capable of defending yourself. But you never know what could happen, so it's better to be safer then sorry."

" Amanda! Let's go!" Our mother shouted from the top of the stairs. " Coming!" Mandy shouted back, making me wince slightly since she had been so close to me when she had raised her voice. " Okay, we're going to be going now. You have both our cellphone numbers, right? Call us if you need anything, alright?"

I nodded and stepped back, forcing my sister to release her grip on my shoulders; After giving me one last hug, I watched Amanda run up the stairs with her bag in hand, shouting for Mom to wait up. I shook my head and closed the bedroom door again. A quick change of clothes was in order if I was going to have a guest.

Just as I finished pulling on a fresh dark grey shirt, I heard the doorbell echo loudly. ' Sammy's early..' I mused, picking up my light grey jacket and slipping it on as I hurried up the stairs;

Zipping the coat a little, I reached forwards and opened the front door: There, standing in front of me was a girl about my age, just about a year younger. With auburn colored, extremely wavy hair and red brown eyes the often shown with mischief.

" Your early," I stated in amusement, repeating the though that had gone through my head a second ago. " So, are you read to clean?"

Hours later, Sammy and I were still downstairs in my room, wearing old clothes with our hair tied back and bandannas to keep our bangs out of our face.

"Is that it?"

"Yeah."

"Thank God." Sammy set the last of the boxes down and surveyed the room. "I thought we'd never get your closet cleaned out, Bev!"

I winced. "Thanks a lot. It isn't that bad--"

"--anymore." My best friend finished with a grin. She stepped into my walk in closet and took a deep breath. "It smells clean in here, too."

I stepped in behind her and pointed to the neatly hanging clothes going along the wall. "That's because all the clothes in here are clean. The clothes on the floor have been in here for who knows how long."

Really. I don't know. My closet is huge and the last time I cleaned it out maybe was...two months ago. Like my mom says, I need to learn to be more responsible. Or, something like that.

"Oh, ew. You know, you need to clean in here more often."

"I'm neat when I want to be."

"Uh-huh, sure." Sammy set the last of the boxes on the back shelf of my closet. "Phew. All done. And it only took us...what? About three hours?"

I walked out behind her and shut the door. "Yeah. Too bad. I planned my whole afternoon around this."

She pulled my covers up from my bed. "Underneath the bed needs to be cleaned, too..."

"Do you want to be here until midnight?"

"I could, considering this is Summer Break, but...I think I'd rather be doing something more interesting." Sammy grabbed her bag and keys from my neatly made bed and threw the backpack over her shoulder.

"Want to go out for coffee and maybe go out for a movie? We could call Jesscia and Andrea...They'd probably like to go."

I followed Sammy back up the stairs from the basement, to the living room. Movie? Was she kidding? With all this homework I have to do?

"Eh...Thanks, but I think I'll relax a little and maybe take a nap." I replied, opening the front door for her.
She turned to face me as she went out.

"Yes. Take advantage of the fact your two younger...annoying...bratty--"

"I get the point, Sam ."

"--younger siblings aren't here." She finished with a smirk.

"Okay, you, get out of here before I call my mom and send them after you." I held up my cell phone, trying not to burst out in fits of giggles at the expression on her face that said, 'you-wouldn't-dare-call-them...-would-you?'. I love my best friend. She makes me laugh.

"Okay. I'll call you!" Sammy bolted down the steps as fast as her short legs could carry her, car keys in hand and ready to go.

She likes my older sister and two brothers, but...they get on each other's nerves. A lot. She waved as she turned into the street and drove away.

Darn. Now the house was too quiet. Even the cat was quiet, which was unusual for him. He'll usually cry all over the house until he finds someone to sleep on or play with.

A yawn came from one of my open suit cases I used while my trip in Maine, to visit my father. I peeked in, staring down at, not one but two balls of fur;

one had a white-fur coat with grey and black spreading from the top of his back to his tail and head, with some tan mixed in as well. the other smaller form was an white-apricot color, with a small, bunny-like tail instead of a long one like most cats.

I shook my head and moved away slowly, careful not to wake them up. Don't get me wrong, I loved my precious babies more then anything, but when they were both awake during the day, they would start to rough house with each other and create a lot of noise. Not to mention a big mess as well.

"Well, now what should I do?" I said, aloud to myself. Hmm. There's the computer... I could chat to my older sister's boyfriend, Will. Or I could play one of my brother's games that they left out... nah, I've played all of them too much for it to be any intresting.

Should I should watch a movie? I could watch kiss the girl, but it probably wouldn't hold my intrest long since I watched it too many times.

Smothering a yawn, I spared a glanced out the windows as I prepared to close the curtians for the night: the wind was now blowing harshly, rattling the windows a tiny bit as well as the fire-place grate, rain and hail the size of a baby's fist pounding down on the glass as if threatening to break through.

' Strange.. you'd think you would at least see the moon out...' I thought sleepily. ' Oh well..' Just when I thought I was going to collapse onto the couch right then and there, Whiskers low, deep growl of anger roused me into slight alertness.

" What is it, baby? is Zoe bothering you again?" I asked sympathically, peering back into the cardboard box. But Zoe was not there, but shivering and shaking behind a stack of fire wood on by the fire grate;

From the angle of my cat's hazel eyes were pointed, it looked like he was staring at something outside.

Frowning, I shifted the material of the curtain aside and cautiously peeked out; well, as best as I could anyway, it was pitch black out, along with all the rain and hail that was coming down.

Finally, I managed to make out a faint humanoid against the harsh sleet. It was a slight figure, making it obvious that my midnight visitor was a woman

" What's a person doing out in this weather..?" I murmured to myself in confusion. They had to be absolutely crazy to be out at this time of night and in this storm. Unless they were planning suicide...

" Me and my soft heart." I growled out, pushing up from the couch and striding across the living room. I grabbed my light jacket off of the post and slipped into it. Yeah, I bet you could figure out what I was doing.

After slipping out the door as quietly as I could, I ran down the porch steps and out from the under the house's shelter from the rain, sprinting towards the stranger with firm intentions.

" HEY!!" I shouted, raising my voice so it could be heard over the howling of the wind. " MISS! MISS!"

I stumbled over a fallen branch that had been torn off by the wind and stopped my approach, leaning against a nearby tree to regain my bearings.

' Ugh, dizzy...' I thought tiredly. ' Am I having a reaction to the sting?' Shoving those distracting thoughts aside, I shook my head to clear it and looked up. The woman stood a few feet away, identity still unknown thanks to the damn weather.

The strange woman stood on the hill that I reconginized to be the rivine that ran around my house. Usually the water barely came up past the rocks that stuck out from the bottom of the river, but when the rain and hail came down like this, it had a pretty good chance to flood.

I pushed against my support and continued towards the stranger, cursing myself inwardly as my world continued to spin and tilt.

By now I was nearly soaked to the bone, my hair pressed at my skull while it dripped down my face.

I pushed my bangs away from my face and reached for the woman right in front of me. " Come on, it's dangerous out here!" I heard myself shouting to the woman, offering a hand for her to take. " Hey..!"

But she disappeared. The moment my hand came close enough, she seemingly vanished into thin air. That was the moment I finally lost it. I let my knees buckle while a pressed my other hand to my head in vain. My vision began to fade in and out rapidly, and I felt myself begin to fall.

The last thing I ever heard or felt as I plunged into the biting, ice cold water below..

..Was the scream of the woman.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Bre17:

Hey, minna-san..! Again, I apologize for restarting my whole story and taking so long to finish it. Things have just been really hectic around here. Hopefully THIS time this story will make a lot more sense. Review to let me know how it is, please!

Here's a preview:

' Colette.. The chosen.. Symphonia?!'

" Your lucky Lloyd and Kai found you when they did."

" The Chosen's task is to regenerate the World and seal the desians."

"..My name is Kratos Aurion."

" You really shouldn't point that thing at inncoent people."

"..Who are you? Your mana.. Your not an elf, half-elf, nor or you human."