I gasp, my eyelids fluttering open.
First thing I see is a blond lady wearing a frilly baby blue dress next to me.
"Oh!" she squeaks. "Oh! You're awake!"
Next thing I see is her pretty blue dress turning red.
I vomit a fountain of blood.
"Ah!" the blond squeals.
I'm too confused to speak. Where am I? What happened? And…
"Who the hell are you?" I blurt out.
Blondie looks annoyed. "That's it? Who the hell are you?" she harrumphs. "Well, I suppose I can forgive you…considering you did faint in the middle of a field…Pretty bad timing if you ask me. That Insect Plant gave you some nasty wounds."
What? "I thought I was in my basement? Playing on my GameCube?"
"Gamecube?" Blondie giggled. "Ah…young ones. So immature. Play with a cube and calling it a GameCube."
"Where am I?"
"In Luin of course. Lucky Henry found you before an Ogre comes along and beats you up."
Luin? Is there any place on Earth called Luin?
"Hey…do you know if there's any way for me to get back to Toronto?"
"Toronto?" Blondie giggled. Damn that's getting annoying! "That's a funny name!"
"Y'know?" I waved my arms around. "Toronto, Ontario, Canada, North America, Earth, Milky Way, the Universe?"
Blondie stared. "Your injuries are worse than I thought….I'd better ask Pat for more medicine…"
"Pat?" I asked.
"Oh yes! Your mother is here! Which reminds me, I'd better tell her you're awake before she starts worrying too much…"
Mother??? My mother's name isn't Rose!
"Hey Blondie!" I called as she headed out the door.
"Blondie?" she looked thoughtful for a minute. "That has a nice ring to it!"
I gaped at her for a second. That has a nice ring to it? What's up with that? HEELLLOOOOO??? BLONDIE??? I JUST INSULTED YOU!!
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Rosie, but you can call me Blondie if you like!" she said with a smile. "It sounds really nice!"
Before Blon-um Rosie left the room, a dark haired woman rushed in.
"Karen!!!!" she sobbed, and grabbed me into a death hug. At the same time, she whispered into my ear. "Just play along okay? My name is Patricia Foxx-call me Pat-and I'm your mother. You are Karen Foxx. I'll explain everything later."
"Are you okay???" she demanded as she pulled back. "Does your arm hurt??"
"Um…I'm…fine…Mom…" The last word felt awkward on my tongue.
"Oh thank goodness!!" Back into the death hug.
"Pat…." Blondie hovered by the door. "I think you're hurting her…"
"Oh oops! I'm so sorry!" Pat blushed.
"That's okay. It didn't really hurt that much." I let out a low, strained chuckle. LIES!!!! ALL LIES!!! OLD LADY HAS THE GRIP OF AN IRON CLAW!!!!!!!
"Rose…could you give me and my daughter a moment alone?" Pat asked.
"Of course!" came the reply. Blondie strolled over to the exit and shut the door quietly behind her.
"Okay, what the hell is going on??" I demanded. "Where the hell is Luin? Where is my real mother and…"
"Wait a minute," Pat held up her hand. "Let me get us some cookies!"
"How can I even think about….waiitt…did you say cookies?"
"Yup!"
"I…well…I guess I could have some." I STILL HAVE MY PRIDE!!! Cookies can solve any problem. Come on, admit it. You know it's true! "D'you have chocolate chip cookies?"
"Yes, I do." Pat hands me a couple. "Here you go."
I stare at the cookies in my hand. AHA!! Something familiar!!! Then I scarf them down.
"Hey Lady…" I began. "Where the hell is Luin?"
Pat hesitates before answering. "In Sylvarant."
"Sylvarant?" Where have I heard that name before? Sylvarant….Sylvarant…
"Have you ever heard of a video game called Tales of Symphonia?"
Right. ToS.
Wait.
Wait a minute….
"Luin?? Sylvarant???? I'm in a video game?????" I scream in her face.
Pat shifts uncomfortably. "Well…not exactly. You are in Luin, Sylvarant, Symphonia, Fornax Dwarf, the Universe."
"Fornax Dwarf?"
"It's a galaxy."
"So I'm in a video game in a different galaxy?? That makes things even worse!!!"
"No, you are not in a video game. This world is only known as a video game on Earth. Symphonia, Sylvarant and Tethe'alla all exist, just as Earth exists."
I pause for a minute. "You know about Earth?"
"Yes. I know everything about Earth."
Anyhoo…back to my rant.
"So instead of a video I'm in a different galaxy??? Well that makes things a whole lot better. How do I get home?"
"Well…"
"Well what?"
"You can't."
"And why not?"
"Because….well…I don't know how to get you there."
"What???" I yelled. "I can't get home???"
"No, I'm sorry."
Pat put on an unbelievably sad expression on her face. Damn it's hard to be angry with her like that!! I took a deep breath to calm myself.
"Sooo….if I can't get home…"
"If you can't get home…"
"Then what do I do?"
"Well…stay here."
"Stay here?"
"Yes."
"Here??? Where I'm light years away from home?????"
"Yes."
And that was the time I decided to murder everything in my sight.
"How can someone so small make so much damage?"
"Well I did. Deal with it old man." I snapped.
An old man across the room was attempting to clean up the aftermath of my killing rampage. And considering my size, I actually did a pretty good job.
Now that I'm somewhat calmer, I realized that it isn't Pat's fault I can't go home……………
Or is it?
Just then, Pat came in. "Karen, may I talk to you for a minute? Privately?"
I groan inwardly, but forced myself to my feet and followed her into another room.
"Well?" I asked after Pat closed the door.
"I should be asking you that." Pat replied. "So…what are you going to do?"
I paused for a minute. What am I going to do now?
"Are you sure that there is no way for me to get back home?" I asked.
"Not that I know of."
"Are you absolutely, positively, sure?"
"Yes"
I sighed. "Then I guess I'll have to stay."
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Everything that I told you, every single word in these chapters up until now happened two whole years ago, when I was just 10 years old.
Now if you think about it, all that is a lot for a 10 year old to take in. All that 'stuck in a different galaxy' shit.
But now I'm twelve. And I have even more to deal with.
I must deal with the fact that I'm going to die.
