Another World

Summary : A man found himself in another world. Can he survive and go back to his world?

Rating : T

Genre: Adventure/Comedy

Disclaimer: I don't have Ar Tonelico series, its characters, anything, duh.

Chapter 1 = Because of a lightning strike…

"Talks"

'Thoughts'

*Sound Effects*

13.00 Gilbert's Room

That afternoon, Gilbert was playing Ar Tonelico 2. He didn't really have anything to do. The weather was stormy outside and he didn't really like going to outside anyway, especially since he was still busy with this JRPG that he bought 1 week before. His friends at gaming forums and college recommended this game to him. At last, he was able to play it after finishing all his college work, knowing that he sometimes did play until he forgot everything else.

'Another Japanese RPG. Man, those people at Japan sure know how to make this genre,' he thought. While he wasn't a hardcore gamer, he loved games very much, especially RPGs.

He considered that thought again. Not a hardcore gamer? Well, anyone who was looking him for the first time would think that. Black hair, black eyes, average height and weight...he was like the average 20 year old college student.

Popular? No. He was not a very good talker; always having a hard time starting a conversation, he usually stayed quiet and only talked when needed. Although he liked it when his friends talked to him. He was also not the type of guy who could be found at parties because of this.

Smart? No. Gilbert remembered what happened when he tried to go into the top university. His entrance exam resulted in complete flop. He ended up following one of his friend to go to a college. He at first was not sure about it, but then again, what else could he do? At least he enjoyed his days there.

'I don't know if this is a good idea to play the second game without looking at the first one. Oh well, maybe they're not connected, anyway. Better to search the first game later after finishing thi-'

Suddenly, he heard an explosive sound very near him, and the lights in his room became very bright.

*BLAARRRRR*

His ears hurt from the very sound. Then, massive electricity went through his body, and knocked him unconscious.

21.00 Somewhere in the forest…

Gilbert woke up in the middle of the forest. His body hurt everywhere, and there was the smell of burning flesh. He tried to remember what had happened to him.

'What happened? Last thing that I remember was that I heard a massive explosion…" He got up and looked at surroundings. This place SURELY was not his apartment room. It was a forested area, with much grass on the ground. He noticed, from looking at the sky, that it was already night.

'How long was I knocked out, anyway?' he thought. He then wandered around, trying to figure out where exactly he was at. As he walked, he noticed that there was a path made of steel, crossing through the ground. He got closer to examine it.

'Hmm, I wonder what this is…'

There were two steel bars, connected with wooden planks between them. When he tried to figure what it could be, suddenly he heard a sound like a train, and it was coming closer at every second. He looked around and found out that it WAS a train. His eyes got wider and he instantly turned pale.

'O shi-' He quickly jumped aside before he could get hit by that train. He barely escaped it, and felt the wind from the train blowing on him. He was still shocked from it. He sat on the ground to calm himself down.

'Wow, that was close. I never knew that path was for trains.' Gilbert then wondered. The train that nearly hit him was different than the one in his town. He never remembered any forests with a train path in it back home, either.

'Last thing I remember, I was playing an RPG in the room, got shocked and woke up in this weird place…' Maybe he had been kidnapped, but why would anyone want to do that? His family wasn't rich. Maybe it was one of his friend's pranks. No, he couldn't think of anyone that would bring him somewhere else just for laughs. Besides, he remembered that he locked his door while he was playing. After thinking for some time, he came up with an answer.

'Okay, this must be a dream. Now I just need to hurt myself to wake up…' He stood up and went to the nearest tree, ready to bang his head.

'In three…two…one…' He smashed his head into the poor tree really hard.

*BRUAKKK*

He knocked himself out, of course.

07.00 Somewhere in the forest…

Gilbert woke up and still found himself in the forest. He rubbed his head, which did hurt. 'So this is not a dream, eh…OUCH! I'm lucky that my head isn't bleeding.' His stomach is growling. He was feeling hungry and thirsty, and wondered just how much time has passed.

'Better search some food or something, then find a way to get back home,' he thought. He searched his pockets, wondering if he carried some food. He put all of his things from his pockets on the ground. He brought his trusty PDA, 2 USBs, his room's keys, and a piece of candy.

'Weird, I think these things should be shorted out when I was electrocuted…' He has a habit of bringing his small electronic things in his pockets, even when he still inside his house. It was like a good-luck charm to him. He then put everything back into his pockets, and ate the candy.

'This won't keep me up for long; I need real food to eat.' He then wandered around and found some bird like creature. It has an egg shell lon the top of its head.

'How can that shell end up on the top of those creatures? Ah, who cares? I wonder if I could kill and eat it…'

He picked up a stone and threw it at the bird-like creature, hoping that would kill it.

Wrong move.

He was now getting hungry, thirsty, AND chased by 2 angry bird-like creatures. He ran as fast as he could, before he climbed up a tree.

"HEEEEEEELLLLPPPPP!"

07.35 Somewhere in the forest…

Thirty minutes passed, though for Gilbert it felt like thirty hours. The creatures were stubborn. He tried to scare them off with a branch. So far, he learned that it just made them angrier.

'These creatures sure are persistent! I hope someone comes...' And he did see someone. There were 4 people coming towards him, in fact: one man and three women. The man looked to be 20 years old, had blue hair, and was wearing some weird armor. One woman had long, blonde hair, had some weird hair ornament, carried a sword, and quite an attractive body. The other woman had short, blue hair, and her clothes looked like a shaman in many games Gilbert had played before. She also wore a different, but still weird hair ornament. The last one looked like a young girl, maybe 11 years old. She had blue hair and yellow outfit.

'Wait a minute, I think I remembered someone like them. Ah, I can think about it later, first I must attract their attention…' Gilbert then began screaming, pleading to help him while trying to hit the birds below to let them know what he was trying to do.

00000

Meanwhile, Croix, Cocona, Luca, and Cloche were on their journey to Mint Block. That was the plan before they saw a man up a tree. He was wearing a red T-shirt and baggy pants, had black hair and brown skin. He was trying to scare the birds below him with a branch, screaming something in language that they didn't understand.

"Hey, anyone know what he trying to say?" asked Croix.

"I don't know, but it seems that man really needs help." Cocona said to Croix. They quickly engaged battle with the birds…

One Song Magic later…

It was pretty easy for the party to defeat all the birds. Croix told that man that he was safe from them now.

'Okay, no doubt, it's THEM.' Gilbert can't believe what he just saw. The party that he saw in the RPG that he just played yesterday was now helping him; and the girls used magic right in front of his eyes! Then, something crossed his mind: He somehow ended up inside the Ar Tonelico 2 world. He then climbed down to thank them.

"Thanks! I'm very grateful to you all!" He said with a happy tone. However, he noticed that the party looked confused. He didn't understand why, until Croix spoke.

"Nani o itte iru nodesu ka?"

'Uh oh…'

END OF CHAPTER ONE