A/N: I'm going to have a serious discussion with both my brain and my wild active imagination.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Berseria

Second Life, Second Chance at Love

Chapter One: Mysterious Dream

At a large imposing ancient temple, several shadowy figures circled around a beam of light that was shooting up into the sky towards a strange structure. They would already be up there if it weren't two of their group off somewhere for a brief private discussion. These two mentioned were not far from the rest of the group. In fact, they were behind one of the pillars nearby. However, they weren't having a private discussion. With the light shining upon them, the one against the pillar was embracing her companion while engaging to what it seemed to be a passionate kiss while her eyes were closed. The one receiving the kiss was in shock by the kiss but didn't break it. The kiss lasted for a few seconds but the one who initiated the kiss broke it off and separated from the other girl while opening her eyes giving her a loving look within them to those beautiful golden eyes. She could feel her heart race due to her recent action but had no choice. They were upon the final battle and knew what her love would do. The only regret she had was that her love for the other girl was brief. That fact alone wrenched her heart the most. This was the final chance she would have to express her love for the girl in front of her. She caressed the other girl's cheeks gently with her hand. "Maybe in another world, in another life, we can meet again and start over. I will wait for you when that time comes and when it does, I'll fall in love with you again."

She meant those words. They have gone through many trials together and it was those trials that made her confirm her love for the girl in front of her. It was more that, though. It made her love all the stronger. In a surprise move, the girl in front her lifted her chin and closed the distance between them and she started to kiss her with the same amount of passion. This time, her eyes closed while the first girl had her eyes widened with surprise. She slowly started to close her eyes and wrapped her arms around the other girl while wrapping her arms around the other girl's raven black hair and returning the kiss. The kiss lasted several seconds longer than the last one before the second girl broke the kiss. Their eyes opened while their bodies were still close to each other. She gave the other girl a reassuring smile. "If that does ever happen, I'll find you, no matter how long it'll take." Hearing those words made the first girl's heart soar. It was a wish beyond their hope and their world but that is the truth both would have to accept. They decided to share one more kiss before returning to their companions. They neared one another and slowly closed the distance between them. Once close enough, the light between them shined brightly and blindly.

D

A groan could be heard and a sight was focused on a wooden ceiling. There was girl currently under the sheets of her bed with the light beaming through the window next to her. She sat up and placed a hand on her face with her eyes closed. "What a strange dream." She removed her hand and opened her eyes to look out the window to see the trees outside. A realization struck her. "That's right. Today is my birthday." The girl sighed as she fell back down to her bed. She turned her head to the side to see a large dresser with a jewel placed on top. Seeing the jewel made her feel slightly somber inside her body. "Happy birthday Eleanor. I guess."

Eleanor didn't have any special plans for her birthday and decided to spend it inside her home reading a book or two. Treating it as the same as any other day. That is until she heard several knocks at her door. "Hey, Eleanor! Are you awake yet!? Get up and answer the door!" Eleanor sighed once again and tossed the covers away and stood up from her bed wearing her oversized plain tan short-sleeved shirt. Eleanor exited her room and made her way to the door. She knew all too well who the person at her door was. It was probably for the better since she was Eleanor's friend in the village she lived in. She approached the door and turned the hand to open the door. Sure enough, it was her. The girl in front of Eleanor gave a playful smile. "Well, good morning and about time. Happy birthday by the way. How are old are you now? Eighteen? My, how the time passes for both of us."

It was way too early for Eleanor to deal with her friend but it was too late. She was here and sure enough, she had a plan for her. "Good morning Magilou. Come inside since you're going to anyway." She walked away from the door and Magilou entered the house.

She closed the door and turned her attention to Eleanor. "So, what does our dear Eleanor has planned for the day? No doubt something marvelous since this is your eighteenth."

All Eleanor did was returning to her room and sat back down on her bed. "Nothing special. Just like in my last birthday. I'm sorry you came all this way for nothing."

Magilou felt a little insulted hearing that. "Now that just won't do. I've been lenient about how you celebrate your coming to this world but this is one I won't abide by. It is your eighteenth which is a very special and a very important milestone in your life. And I, as your friend, your compatriot, and your common sense, won't stand for you wasting such a momentous occasion with you being holed up in your abode. No arguments or exceptions and that's final."

If anything, Magilou was always an endless source of entertainment for Eleanor. Still, though, as comical Magilou was, she was serious about what she said earlier which is a pain for the other girl. "Fine then since you leave me no choice in the matter. Let me clean up and dress. I'll meet you outside."

Magilou smiled at her friend. "Good. I expect you to be outside in less than five minutes. Chop chop." She made her way back to the door and opened it. Magilou made her exit with shutting the door after her leaving.

There was no way out now and Magilou was determined to make the best of today, despite Eleanor being reluctant about it. With that thought, she finally decided to wash up a little and get dressed for whatever Magilou had planned for her.

B

When Eleanor was done putting on her clothes which were a light lime-green blouse accompanied by a white skirt above her knees and boots of the same color. Once dressed, she exited out the door to her home which pleased Magilou and set out to the village. The village Eleanor lived in was not her home village. She was brought into the village after her home village was destroyed in what she considered to be the dreadful and terrifying night of her life. That was ten years ago. Thankfully, her former village's elder was a longtime friend of the elder of the village Eleanor was currently living in who just so happens to be Magilou's grandfather. She was thankful for his kindness but what happened on that night ten years ago will forever haunt her long after her eighteenth birthday. When the two entered the village, it was quite quaint. It's wasn't small but everyone knew each other and were friendly. Something Eleanor was grateful for. The two girls were walking around with Magilou leading Eleanor. "So, what do you have planned for me on my birthday?"

Magilou put up a playful smile. "Beats me. I haven't the slightest clue."

Eleanor almost fell over when she heard the answer but quickly recomposed herself. She was both flabbergasted and a little mad at her friend. "You don't know? Then why did you make such a big deal about my birthday earlier?!"

Her friend turned her head and gave her a sly grin. "Because it would be boring that that. A whole special for you without knowing what to do. Think of the endless possibilities you can think of and look back at them as memorable."

Eleanor had to do a mental facepalm with the other girl's explanation. "It's not that different from any other day."

Magilou knew which button to push when it came to her friend. "So there's nothing exciting you can think of you want to do? It's your birthday so you can speak your mind freely. No restrictions, the sky is the limit, you have the whole world as your oyster for this momentous occasion!"

If anything, Magilou did have a way with words. If Eleanor could describe her with just one word, it would be "eccentric". She honestly thought Magilou would make a great thespian given the way of how she acts. There really wasn't anything Eleanor could think of doing. All she wanted to do was just stay in bed and read a book. Then she thought up one idea that came to her mind. "Maybe going outside the village to pick out some flowers? That's something we can do."

Magilou wasn't all that pleased to hear her friend's suggestion. "Really? That's it? Come on, why not choose something with a little more flair, like hunting and fighting prickleboars."

"You know I can't fight, Magilou." Eleanor retorted.

The other girl thought otherwise. "If we cannot fight, then we flee for safety. There's always that option. Still, if you want to do something simple as flower collecting, by all means, go ahead. It'll be a start."

At least they agreed on something. Still, there were the dangers they had to be careful of. "Let's just make sure we stay in the safe part of the forest nearby. Any deeper and there's a good chance we'll encounter something worse than a prickleboar."

Magilou waved her hand nonchalantly. "Yes, yes, safety above all else. Let's get going already." They made their way to the outskirts of the village.

B

As promised, Eleanor and Magilou were in the forest just outside of the village. The outer part was safe enough because it was so close to the village so there was little to no dangerous encounters aside from a few prickleboar encounters but they can be easily dealt with. Eleanor was sitting on her knees picking what flowers seemed pretty to her and put them in a basket she and Magilou had bought just before they left the village. Picking flowers were somewhat of a pastime she did at her home village with her mother before that night had happened. It was a little comforting of her. While she was picking flowers, Magilou decided to pick herbs. They were close by to each other and Eleanor turned to her friend. "Did you find any good herbs to use?"

Magilou pulled out another one and placed it her basket. "A few that you can say."

Eleanor resumed picking out her flowers. "So how's your training of being a healer going?"

The other girl was busy searching for another herb. "Fine if you want to call it that. Although, Melchior can lighten up about my studies. That part is always troublesome." For some reason, Magilou always called her grandfather by his name. She did at one time when they were young but then stopped that when she became older.

"He just wants you to be prepared for whatever happens. If he's being hard on you, it just means he wants you to succeed." Eleanor plucked another flower.

Magilou had already came to that conclusion. "I know, I know." Eleanor continued to pick each flower she could find until she came across a flower with yellow petals. She stared at the petals and began to remember something from the recesses of her mind. What came of it were piercing golden eyes for some reason. "-Anor. -leanor. Eleanor!" Eleanor's thought was broken when she heard Magilou's voice and turned her with a surprised look on her face while Magilou was standing over her. "Jeez. I never took you for the type to be lost in thought. You were staring at that flower for a few minutes. So what is it that has this flower to have you contemplate?"

Eleanor looked back at the flower. "You might think this is strange but I had a dream."

The other girl raised an eyebrow. "And what's so strange about that. You dream, I dream, dogs dream. So what is it that's so perplexing?"

Eleanor tried to recall her dream from earlier. "It's just that…it was about a person. A girl, actually. I don't know who she is. Just that she had golden eyes and raven black hair. That's all I can remember." In truth, there was more about the dream but Eleanor thought it was best to keep that to herself. Otherwise, Magilou won't stop prying about it.

Her explanation did have Magilou a little puzzled. "A dream about a girl with eyes of gold and raven black hair. It is indeed strange but perhaps there's a meaning behind it."

If anything, that sounded strange to Eleanor. "A meaning?"

Magilou nodded and raised up a finger. "Yes. They say some dreams you have may mean something. Maybe this mystery girl you were seeing in your dreams is someone important."

Eleanor chuckled a little at the explanation. "I highly doubt that. Maybe it was something I ate last night." She grabbed the handle of her basket and stood up. "I'm going ahead."

The other girl just shrugged. "Okay but don't go getting yourself in trouble. If you do, shriek like the fair maiden that you are and I'll come running to save you."

"And by save, you mean both of us running for our lives, correct?"

Magilou winked at the other girl and snapped her fingers. "You know me so well. I'll be with you as soon as I pick out a few more herbs. Until then, have fun." Eleanor nodded and waved goodbye before leaving.

She traveled a little further then Eleanor would've liked but she did manage to find another group of flowers. "These should do." Eleanor sat on her knees again and started to pick the flowers. She didn't get far as she heard small rustling from some nearby bushes. Eleanor stopped and looked at the directions of the bushes. "Who's there? Magilou?" She didn't hear a reply but was certain it was Magilou. It wasn't the first time she pulled off a jump scare on Eleanor. She stood up and walked over to the bushes. "Magilou, you might as well come out because I know that's yo-"

Eleanor suddenly heard a roar and fell to the ground while screaming. She saw three prickleboars come out of the bushes and were looking directly at her. Obviously, it wasn't Magilou but now Eleanor was in trouble. She crawled away from the beasts while still being in fear of them. "Prickleboars? Here? But you're not supposed to be in this part of the forest!"

The prickleboar at the center roared and began to charge at Eleanor. She was frozen in fear and closed her eyes expecting the worse. However, that didn't happen as Eleanor heard the prickleboar screeching out in pain. She opened her eyes and gasped as there was a girl who seemed to be Eleanor's age standing in between her and the other two prickleboars. What was interesting enough was the weapon she carried. It was like a sword but it was coming out from what it seemed to be a metal bracelet around her wrist. Eleanor saw the prickleboar who was charging at her lying dead near the girl. "Stay back. I'll handle them." She charged at the two remaining prickleboars and delivered several swift slashes at one of them. While she was busy with one of them, the other prickleboar charged at Eleanor. The girl saw that it was going to attack Eleanor and quickly ran in front of the beasts. Its attack struck her instead with its tusks.

The girl groaned in pain but quickly recomposed herself and delivered a counterattack by charging at the beast and stabbed it in the head. The girl flicked her blade to be rid of the blood and it retracted back inside the bracelet. "That was close." She turned around and walked toward Eleanor. "I apologize for that. I was hunting them from the deeper part of the woods here. I didn't expect them to run into you." She stopped in front of Eleanor and offered her hand while smiling. "You're not hurt, are you?" All Eleanor could do was stare in awe and disbelief. The girl in front of her had golden eyes like those from her dream and had long raven black hair tied up in a braided ponytail. She wanted to speak but no words came out of her mouth. The only think Eleanor did do was black out.

B

Eleanor groaned as she opened her eyes to once again see that same wooden ceiling. That meant she was back at her home and sat up while closing her eyes once more. "How did I get here?"

"You're awake." Eleanor opened her eyes and turned to see that same girl from before who saved her. She was sitting on a chair next to her bed while looking to be relieved. "I thought they'd injured you but it seems you passed out." Eleanor continued to stare at the girl before her. It wasn't just her looks that were familiar to her. It was her voice as well. It sounded like the voice from the dream she had. "Your friend arrived shortly after you passed out. I explained to her what happened and I carried you back to your home. Your friend was the one who guided me. I guess I was closer to a village than I thought."

Magilou. That's right. She wondered where her friend was. "Where is Magilou?"

The girl figured that was Eleanor's friend's name. "She left a little before you woke up. You weren't out that long. She mentioned something going to her grandfather reporting about me. Did I break a rule already?"

Eleanor shook her head and was finally able to speak. "No. I think it has to do with the fact that you're new to our village and those who are outside need to have an audience with our village elder, Melchior."

The girl in front of her smiled at the explanation. "I can understand that."

She suddenly winced and held her stomach which had Eleanor concerned. "Are you alright?"

The other girl sucked in air from her teeth and exhaled calmly. "I'm alright. It's just the injury that prickleboar inflicted on me from before."

Eleanor remembered that and suddenly felt a little responsible. "You were hurt because of me. I'm so sorry." She lowered her head at her savior.

However, she didn't mind. "It's alright. Although, I do admit it's not easy taking a full-blown tackle from a prickleboar. Your friend, Magilou was it, was able to put on some first aid before she left but it'll be awhile before I start fighting again. I'm just glad that you're safe."

Eleanor still felt some responsibility for what happened to her savior but she knew better than keep blaming herself for other people's misfortune. As long she was okay as well, that was good enough for her. "I suppose I should thank you for saving me. I don't even know your name. Mine is Eleanor Hume so it's nice to meet you."

The other girl smiled sweetly at Eleanor. "It's nice to meet you, Eleanor. My name is Velvet Crowe."